HOW TO STUDY 

AND 

WHAT TO STUDY 



BY 

RICHARD L. SANDWICK 

PRINCIPAL DEERFIELD-SHIELDS HIGH SCHOOL 
HIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS 



D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS 

BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 



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Copyright, 191 5, 
By D. C. Heath & Co. 

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mi 28 1915 




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CONTENTS 

PART I I 

The Principles of Efective Study 

PAGE 

I. Know That Your Work is Worth Doing . 5 
II. Have Confidence That You Can Do It . 16 
III. Have Fixed Hours for Study and Plunge 

in When the Hour Comes i . . .21 
. V. Begin by Recalling What You Already 

Know 28 

•/. First Study the Lesson as a Whole ; 

Then Go Back to Difficulties . . . 32 
VI. Study Aloud or with Lips Moving . ^. . 37 
VII. Practice Recall as You Study; and in 
Drill Work Repeat at Increasing 

Intervals 42 

VIII. Make a Synopsis and Visualize It . . .47 
IX. Learn When and How to Read Rapidly . 56 
X. Stimulate Your Efforts with the 

Thought of Competition . . . .67 
XL Conserve Your Energies for Study . . 73 



PART II ^ 

What to Study and How 
I. Why Study History? . . . • . . . .87 
How to Study History 91 



iv CONTENTS 

11. Why Study Latin? 93 

How to Study Latin 94 

III. Why Study English? 97 

Why Study English Literature? . . 97 
Why Study English Grammar? . . 98 
Why Study Composition and Rhetoric? 100 

How to Study English 103 

How to Study Spelling . . . . . .104 

How to Study Grammar 105 

How to Study Rhetoric and Composition 106 

IV. Why Study the Modern Languages? . .109 

How to Study a Foreign Language . .110 

V. Why Study Mathematics? 11 1 

How to Study Mathematics . . . .112 

VI. Why Study THE Sciences? 115 

Chemistry 115 

Physics 117 

Biology .118 

Physical Geography 121 

How to Study Science 123 

VII. Why Study Economics? 127 

VIII. Why Study Psychology? 128 

IX. Why Study Drawing? 130 

X. Vocational Studies 132 

Stenography 132 

Bookkeeping 133 

Salesmanship 134 

Scientific Farming 136 

Domestic Art and Science . . . .137 



CONTENTS V 

Vocational Studies — Continued 

Manual Training 138 

The Professional Engineers . . . .138 
Engineering and Building Trades . .140 

XL The Older Professions 142 

The Physician 142 

The Dentist 145 

The Pharmacist 146 

The Lawyer 148 

XII. What IS Efficiency? 152 

Mental Power 153 

Social Power 154 

Initiative 157 

Appendix A 165 

Appendix B 168 



PART I 

THE PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE 
STUDY 



FOREWORD TO PART I 

It is my belief that students have a right to as 
much and as expert coaching on how to study lessons 
from books as they receive on how to play football, 
how to dance, or how to do anything else. They 
will generally be grateful for such help. In fact, the 
learning process may be made the subject of so 
much thought as to become itself a vital interest, 
perhaps as potent in holding students in school as 
are the extra-scholastic activities, such as games, 
dramatics, initiations, and the like, that are seem- 
ingly the only attractions in school and college life 
for many young people. My classes have found 
help in the talks that I have given as I have kept 
pace with the slowly developing literature of edu- 
cational psychology. 

The purpose of this little book is to place before 
y(/ anger students, in simple form, the general prin- 
ciples of effective study; if it helps its readers, it 
will have fulfilled its mission. 

The authors starred below read the greater part 
of this book when in manuscript form and helped 
me with criticisms, suggestions, and encouragement. 

Authorities 
The Psychology of High School Subjects . . Charles H. Judd * 

The Learning Process Stephen Sheldon Colvin * 

The Principles of Teaching Based on Psychology 

Edward L. Thorndike 

A Brief Course in the Teaching Process. . . . Geo. D. Strayer 



4 HOW TO STUDY 

The Educative Process Wm. Chandler Bagley * 

The Economy and Training of Memory Henry J. Watt 

Introduction to Experimental Education .... Robert R. Rusk 

Manual of Mental and Physical Tests G. M. Whipple 

The Psychology of Adolescence G. Stanley Hall 

Attention and Interest Felix Arnold 

Interest in its Relation to Pedagogy Wilhelm Ostermann 

Interest and Education Charles De Garmo 

The Individual in the Making E. A. Kirkpatrick 

Genetic Philosophy of Education G. E. Partridge 

Studies in Logical Theory John Dewey 

The Basis of Practical Teaching Elmer Barrett Bryan 

Principles of Educational Practice Paul Klapper 

The Principles of Education W. Franklin Jones 

How to Study and Teaching How to Study. . F. M. McMurry * 

High School Education Charles H. Johnston and Others 

The High School Age Irving King 

Psychology Wilham James 

Increasing Human Efficiency in Business. . .Walter Dill Scott 

Mental Fatigue Dr. Max Offner 

Mental Fatigue Tsuro Aral 

La Fatigue et le Repos Dr. Ferdinand LaGrange 

Food and Dietetics Robert Hutchison, M. D. 

Educational Values Wm. Chandler Bagley * 

The Hygiene of the Mind Thomas Smith Clouston 

Psychology Charles H. Judd * 



THE PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE 
STUDY 

I. Know that Your Work is Worth Doing 

No great and enduring work will ever be done 

when the heart is not in it. The harder the work Intellectual 
, 1 , . , -r . work dim- 

the more clearly true is the statement, it is true cult. 

of study; and study for young minds is hard work. 
There must be interest of some sort in study, as 
in everything else, or it cannot be continued by 
rational human beings. The will cannot focus 
attention upon any subject that lacks interest for 
more than a few seconds at a time; and forced atten- 
tion requires too great expenditure of energy. 
School work must of necessity be hard for the nor- 
mal young mind. Every subject of instruction is to 
him a new field of thought. Later in life, when 
knowledge has been acquired along many different 
lines, the acquired knowledge develops centres of 
interest that attract and hold the attention; but 
the youth, seeing no such relations, knows little or 
nothing about the subject matter to which he 
begins to devote his time and hence launches him" 
self into the new work with great effort. 

In order to make a hearty effort you must think 

of all the good reasons for study that you can find, ^^f^ of 

1 ^ ^ 1 n • 1- • , . ,, right emo- 

and must control all inclination toward idleness tional tone 



HOW TO STUDY 



or pleasure. A great deal depends upon your emo- 
tional tone. The right emotional tone is a happy- 
earnest feeling toward your work. You will attain 
this in proportion as you respect and value your 
studies. 

Fortunately it requires only a little serious thought 
Easy to see ^q make the average young man or woman realize 



tage ot 
learning. 



Wealth de- 
voted to 
higher edu- 
cation. 



the importance of study. So apparent is the ad- 
vantage of education that even the uneducated 
can realize it; and often the cry goes up from those 
who come to their senses too late, "Oh, why did I 
not devote more time to study at an age when I 
had the leisure for it!" 

A proof of what the general public thinks of high 
school and university education is the amount of 
money voted in public taxes to support it. This 
amount increases by leaps and bounds. In 191 2-13 
more than $59,000,000 was raised by taxation to 
support public high schools; and $212,582 from pub- 
lic appropriat ons, besides $11,484,000 from other 
sources, was spent in rhaintaining private schools 
of the same grade. Consider also, in addition to 
the public taxes, the gifts and benefactions from 
private individuals who decide that the best way 
in which their money can do good is by providing 
opportunities for the young to study and secure 
education. In 191 2-13, $25,000,000 was bestowed 
for this purpose on colleges and universities. 
For the same year there were 1,283,009 students 
in public and private high schools and over 
200,000 in colleges. The foregoing figures do not 
include the students in evening schools, business 



STUDY IS WORTH WHILE 7 

colleges, normal schools, and other professional 
schools and special institutions. 

All this wealth, devoted to study, and all this 
army of students who have passed the years of com- shows value 
pulsory education are very significant facts; they put upon it. 
can have but one meaning: the enormous value 
put upon the work of schools and colleges — in other 
words, upon study. For in the last analysis there 
is no such thing as education without study and effort 
on the part of the one who is being educated. 

If this array of figures appeals only to the intel- 
lect and still leaves you cold toward your actual Education 
I- 1 • 1 • 1 1 -11 widens the 

work, take a little time to think what study will interests and 

do for you. It will make possible to you the high- promotes 
, . ... . „ . , ,. , . happiness, 

est, happiest lite, lullest in understanding and in 

rich human experiences. With study, your interests, 

now so narrow, will widen in every direction. All 

that surrounds you, both near and far, — the world 

of nature, the earth, plants and animals, the past, 

the present, yes, even the future, — will be filled 

with significance; and you will become alive to a 

thousand things to which now you are dead. What 

interest has a child in the tombs of the Pharaohs, in 

the atomic theory, or in Mendel's law? What 

interest have you in these things if you never studied 

them? "Not to have studied," said Cicero two 

thousand years ago, "is to remain always a child." 

Power, position, reputation, and honor are all 

within the grasp of the diligent student. This is ^^ increases 

as true today as it was when Solomon wrote, a bihties in 

thousand years before Christ, "Happy is the man ^^^^• 

that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth 



8 HOW TO STUDY 

understanding. . . . Length of days is in her right 

hand, in her left hand riches and honor." 

In order to get the right attitude toward school 

Value of in- work you should have by you a book or two of short 

spirational , . , . , , , , , , 

books to the biographical sketches that snow how success has 

student. been won. Smiles's Self help and the Proverbs have 
stimulated many a man of an earlier time to stick 
to his books. Students have found Orison Swett 
Marden's inspirational books valuable, especially 
his Pushing to the Front. These books are full of 
examples of men who, under trying circumstances, 
often without school or teacher, in a narrow margin 
of leisure time have acquired rich stores of knowl- 
edge by use of which they have risen to distinction. 
To himself, the efforts of the average student 
Value of bi- seem paltry and feeble when he reads Milton's words, 
ography. "From the twelfth year of my age I scarcely ever 
went from my lessons to bed before midnight;" or 
when he pictures to himself Abraham Lincoln 
stretched by the firelight, working out the problems 
of geometry — a self-imposed task; or when he reads 
of Cobden, the poor clerk, rising early to study while 
his companions slept, and laying the foundation of 
that eminence to which Bright referred when he said, 
"There is not in Great Britain a poor man's home 
that has not a bigger, better, and cheaper loaf 
through Richard Cobden's efforts." Read Elihu 
Burritt's diary and know what effort is: "Mon- 
day, June 1 8, headache, 40 pages Cuvier's Theory 
of the Earth, 64 pages French, 11 hours forging. 
Tuesday, June 19, 60 lines Hebrew, 30 lines Danish, 
10 lines Boheriiian, 9 lines Polish, 15 names of stars, 



STUDY IS WORTH WHILE 9 

10 hours forging." Is it strange that Elihu Burritt 
became distinguished as an eminent lecturer and 
philanthropist? It was he who organized the first 
international Peace Congress and to his efforts are 
traced the Geneva Tribunal and the Paris Bering 
Sea Tribunal. Such biography is fit to put "pep," 
if possible, into the studies of a half-wit; certainly it 
should help to make scholars of dullards. 

If there are any who are unwilling to work for 
their own selfish advancement, they should con- Scholarship 

. , , . , r -1 ^ ' ^ ^ Sign Of 

sider the mcreased power for service to others which good stock, 
such self-advancement gives. Those students whose 
pride is not self-centered must still rejoice to see 
how grade-marks, symbolizing their scholastic suc- 
cess in competition with other young people, gladden 
the hearts of those at home. Mother's and father's 
eyes brighten, and brothers and sisters are glad 
because the student of the family has won distinc- 
tion. Young and old instinctively know that 
industry and intelligence are indications of good 
stock in which they, too, have a share; and all are 
in consequence heartened and cheered. "There 
will be a strong man in the family," parents say, 
"when years of weak old age come upon us." 

The most unselfish can see in study an oppor- 
tunity to serve their country. We delight to honor Scholarship 

.. ■ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^d patri- 

courage, but it is questionable whether the most otism. 
distingu'shed services of our country's generals are 
to be compared with the services of her scholars. 
Think what has been accomplished by German 
scholarship, vigorous and thorough. History is 
very clear on this — that Germany's preeminence in 



lO 



HOW TO STUDY 



Value of 
good repu- 
tations 
among 
classmates. 



Commercial 
value of 
school repu- 
tations. 



SO many lines of industry is the result of German 
scholarship. If America is to hold her place even 
in industry, she must have scholars and scientists 
of the same thorough-going stamp to lead the way 
to discovery and invention. 

It is no small thing to make a reputation for 
ability among one's classmates. In most instances 
there will never again be such an opportunity to 
acquire so easily a reputation for ability, intelligence, 
and industry. Where could one find a better chance 
to show his worth before so many? These class- 
mates of today will be the men and women of to- 
morrow ; and what they say of you can make or mar 
your success in the days to come. If with good 
scholarship go bigness of heart and unselfish devo- 
tion to common interests, you will have many 
eager helpers all along your upward path — old 
schoolmates and college friends, who have recog- 
nized your worth. 

It is of no less importance to make a good record 
in the eyes of your instructors. Especially when 
you first start in business life, employers will inquire 
what your school record is. The more important 
the position to which you aspire and the more trust 
to be placed in you, the more will your record be 
searched. On the following page is a form that I 
have filled out scores of times for young men seek- 
ing positions of responsibility. Notice how much 
stress is upon their school record. 



STUDY IS WORTH WHILE ii 

The Fidelity and Casualty Company of New York 

97 Cedar Street, New York City 
Fidelity Department: Edward C. Hunt, Superintendent 

Dear Sir: 

Mr , age , of 

son or ward of Mr , of , 

has applied to this company for a bond of suretyship in the 

sum of $ as in the service of 

Since it appears from his apphcation that he attended 

school from , to 

under , 

I beg leave to ask the favor of full and candid replies to the 
following questions. Your answers will be deemed strictly 
confidential and will, of course, involve you in no pecuniary 
responsibiHty. 

Yours respectfully, 



1. Are the foregoing dates correct according to your 
records? If not, what are the correct dates? 

2. Do your records, or your personal knowledge, warrant 
you in recommending the applicant for 

a. Attention to studies? 

b. Good conduct? 

c. Punctuahty? 

d. Abihty? 

3. Have you ever known or heard of any dishonorable action 
on his part? If so, give particulars 

4. Have you ever known or heard at any time of his using 
intoxicants to excess? If so, please state about how long 
ago 

5. Have you ever known of his having been addicted to any 
bad habits? If so, what? 

6. From your acquaintance with him or his antecedents, 
do you deem him entirely trustworthy? 



12 



HOW TO STUDY 



7. Where and by whom has he been employed or engaged 
since you have known him? 

8. Are you acquainted with the appHcant's home or do- 
mestic conditions? If so, please state where he has been 
residing, giving any information you may have of his imme- 
diate family surroundings 

The information hereon is given in confidence and no pecun- 
iary responsibility is assumed by the undersigned. 

Signature Business or occupation 

Date Address 



The educa- 
tion of a 
savage. 



He meets 
his step- 
mother. 



The most convincing proof of the value of edu- 
cation that I have ever known came to me in an 
address by Doctor Carlos Montezuma before a 
men's club in Chicago. Doctor Montezuma is a 
full-blooded Apache Indian who was captured, when 
a child, from an Indian village in Arizona and who 
continued to be held as a slave long after negro 
slavery ceased in the South. With singular vivid- 
ness and charm he told the story of this early 
episode and of his subsequent life: how he was 
sold for thirty dollars to a Chicago artist who hap- 
pened to be traveling on the frontier; how he was 
brought East and sent to school; how he, formerly 
a nameless young savage, passed through the grades 
of the elementary and high schools, entered college, 
and, after graduating there, finished a course of 
medicine in a professional school. 

The government at Washington then engaged 
his services to visit the western tribes and report 
upon their condition. He visited, among others, the 
very tribe from which as a boy he had been taken 
captive. There he found his people still living 



STUDY IS WORTH WHILE 13 

under primitive conditions in the wretched little 
grass-thatched huts that he had known in childhood. 
His attention was called to an Indian woman, dirty 
and unkempt, w^ho was cooking at a fire of sticks 
before her hut, amid a swarm of flies. From the 
height of his superior education gained in the white 
man's schools, he gazed upon her. Outwardly he 
saw that she was unclean; and he knew that within 
she was the prey to fears and dark superstitions — • 
the ignorant victim of her unsanitary surroundings. 
She was so wretched an object to look upon, evi- 
dently so lacking in feminine tastes and cultured 
feelings, that as he stood there he found himself 
wondering whether this woman had a soul. 

Presently he learned that she was his own step- ^ realizes 
mother. Then a feeling of pity for his people, such tages of the 
as he had not known before, came over him. He white man's 
realized at once that their highest good could be 
attained only by their entering into the culture of 
the whites, by learning as he had learned the lessons 
of civilization taught in their schools. 

Doctor Montezuma ended the address with a 
plea that the Indian reservations be abolished, that 
their lazy, idle life at government expense cease; 
that they be no longer segregated, but that their 
children be put into school side by side with the 
white children, where they could get from books 
and studies and teachers the experience of past ages 
with which to regulate their conduct and ennoble 
their lives. 

The speaker was a typical Indian of the far West, 
squat of stature, with high cheek bones, swarthy 



14 HOW TO STUDY 

What edu- complexion, and coarse, thatch-like hair. As he 
cation has , , , . . . , . 

done for spoke, the wonder oi it came to us agam and agam. 

hi"^- Instead of the guttural Indian tongue, scant in 

vocabulary and pieced out with signs and gestures, 
he used the most cultured English, enriched as it is 
by additions from the noblest languages of ancient 
and modern Europe. It was a distinguished audi- 
ence that he addressed, representing many of the 
best families of a wealthy residence district; but 
it is doubtful whether one of his hearers could 
have spoken better than he. They marvelled to 
see what education had done for him. His body 
was probably little different from what it would 
have been if he had remained in his primitive home. 
But his mind and soul — how different were they ! 
How different his outlook on life, his attitude toward 
the world, his sympathies, tastes, and prejudices! 
With his scientific studies, there had come to this 
Indian physician a love of demonstrable truth that 
made ridiculous the hocus pocus of the medicine 
man of his native tribe. 

He might have said with Tennyson's Ulysses, 
''I am a part of all that I have met." He had met 
in his books the master minds of all time; and into 
his soul their thoughts and feelings had passed. 
Perhaps it was in spite of himself that the lessons 
in sanitation, learned in school and in hospital, had 
so changed him as to make the filth of an Indian 
camp disgusting. Perhaps some of the tenderness 
of Gray and Burns and Goldsmith had made Indian 
cruelty a hateful thing. Perhaps the songs of 
Mendelssohn and Schubert and the orchestrations 



STUDY IS WORTH WHILE 15 

of Wagner had taught a nobler enjoyment than that 
afforded by tom-tom and shouting. He had seen the 
effect of training in the use of material things: as 
when architect and builder have learned to erect 
dwellings that make the tepee look like the abode of 
animals, or at least like the play-house of children. 
He had seen how, as the result of study, men are 
talking through vast reaches of space, harnessing 
the cataract to do their work, and flying on the 
wings of the wind. It is not strange that he wanted 
the gifts of education for his people. It is said 
that three generations without schools and without 
teachers would put us all back into savagery. 

It is worth while to think sometimes of such 
things; we are so used to schools and education that 
we forget how much they mean to us. 

As a student, know that your work is worth doing. Summary. 

Think of all the good reasons you have for studying: 
your own highest interest, your home, your country. 

Read the authors and biographies that emphasize 
these truths; and avoid every suggestion contrary to 
their teachings. 



II. Have Confidence that You can do it 



Enfeebling 
effect of dis- 
pleasure and 
despair. 



Invigorat- 
ing effect of 
hope and 
pleasure. 



Not only must you gain the full consent of your 
mind to the proposition that your work as a student 
is worth doing, — you must also have confidence 
that you can do it. Remember : the right emotional 
tone is one of happy-earnest confidence. If you know 
that your work is well worth doing you cannot dis- 
like it. If you know that you can do it, you cannot 
despair of it. Enormous energy has to be spent in 
studying what one dislikes or despairs of acquiring. 
Displeasure depresses and exhausts. The brow 
contracts, the shoulders draw together, the corners 
of the mouth drop down, the whole form stoops, the 
hands close, and the arms bend into a more or less 
defensive attitude. In that position the body is 
on guard, as it were; shut up, so far as may be, to 
outside influence. The mind follows the body. 
In such a condition of mind and body, learning 
is almost impossible. 

But the right emotional tone of happy-earnest 
confidence smooths out the wrinkles in the brow, 
lifts the corners of the mouth, opens the chest 
to deep breathing and strong heart action. The 
whole body becomes receptive. The mind is 
then alert and ready to receive suggestion and 
stimulation.^ 

Now the question is, how may we acquire this 
confidence? Lincoln sustained himself in the years 
^ See Scott's Increasing Human Efficiency in Business, p. 182. 



BE CONFIDENT OF SUCCESS 17 

of self-directed study with the beUef, "What man Confidence 
has done before, man can do again." It is a sus- the thought 

taining thought for you. Generations of students °^ others' 

success. 
have mastered this mathematics, this Latin, this 

physics, over which you sigh. Others in a thousand 
schools are mastering these studies today. Per- 
haps in your class are others far less equipped than 
you with energy and endurance to bear the stress 
of mental work. What all these have done and are 
doing successfully you can do. 

Not only should the thought of others encourage 

you, but the place that you have already reached ^J ^]^^ , 
. 1 . f ,, -^ , ^ thought of 

m education should prove to you that you are no your own 

defective. Have you won that place by sheer hard-won 

success. 
force of industry? Then so much the greater must 

be your deserved self-reliance. Hard-won success 

breeds ever the best and sturdiest confidence. The 

race is not always to the swift. Remember that 

Grant was a mediocre student and Wellington slow 

to learn. Perhaps the persistency which slow minds 

must develop to hold a place in school more than 

makes up for the lack of brilliance and quickness of 

intellect. 

Lack of money need not daunt the student. 
Scholarship thrives best on plain fare. After a Indigence 
dinner of cornmeal and milk, no sleepy dullness scholarship, 
follows, such as halts the studies of the overfed. 
Never was it so easy for the poor to acquire an 
education. Thousands are working their way 
through high schools and colleges. Many earn 
every cent it costs them. 

What others are doing you can do. Only do not 



i8 



HOW TO STUDY 



Advice to 
those who 
work their 
way. 



Advice to 
those who 
learn with 
dithculty. 



think you must carry full work while you earn 
your way. Sometimes young people attempt the 
impracticable, and are disappointed at failures 
that were inevitable. If necessary, take five or 
six years to carry a four-years' course. Then you 
will have no difficulty in holding a good rank in 
scholarship. 

In urging you to have confidence, I would not 
have it understood that you are urged to take more 
work than you can do well. Just as one does not 
thrive physically by overeating, so no one can thrive 
mentally by trying to take in more mental food 
than he can make a part of his thinking. There 
is a wide difference in the power of individuals to 
assimilate learning, just as in their power to 
assimilate food. Physical differences are easily 
recognized by young people. They rea^y see 
that one of their number is sue feet two in height, 
while another is barely five feet. They see that one 
young man can easily throw an iron ball forty-five 
feet, while another of the same age cannot throw 
it twenty feet, though he tries ever so hard. But 
young people are slow to recognize mental differ- 
ences. They usually ascribe differences in marks 
to differences in effort or in previous study, or to 
some external circumstance. The lock- step of the 
grades fosters this belief; and especially the fact 
that effort there usually counts for as much as 
actual accomplishment in securing promotion from 
grade to grade. 

Even while urging you to have confidence, I would 
also urge you to become acquainted with your own 



BE CONFIDENT OF SUCCESS 19 

limitations. Know yourself. Thus only can your ^little 

II- T 1 thoroughly 

confidence be sane and enduring. Just as there learned 

are boys who can put the shot forty feet as easily rather than 
. much hazy 

as others put it twenty, so there may be one stud mt knowledge. 

who can carry five subjects with no more efiort 
than another must put forth to carry three. If 
you belong to the small group that can do no more 
than three studies well, accept that fact and do 
not try to carry more. Unfortunately, from a false 
sense of pride or a desire to graduate with a certain 
class, many students stagger under too heavy a 
load. They may manage to pass; but the work is 
not learned with enough thoroughness to make it 
a part of their mental equipment. Too little of it 
ever becomes the subject of thought afterward; in 
fact, it may be done in so feeble a way that it con- 
tributes practically nothing to the happiness or 
efficiency of the student. 

"Beware of a man of one book," says the prov- 
erb, meaning that such a man proves a more Advantage 
1 11 111 of speciah- 

dangerous opponent than the man who has but a zation. 

hazy knowledge in many directions. Specialize; 
devote your time and energies to a narrow field of 
endeavor and you will do much, even if you are not 
a mental Hercules. 

Not even weak health need stand in the way of 
intellectual conquest. Wonderful success has been Weak health 
achieved by men in feeble health. Take Parkman, scholarship. 
Stevenson, and Pope as examples. Francis Park- 
man, our most distinguished historian, continued to 
work when too weak to apply himself for more than 
five minutes at a time, patiently gathering material 



20 HOW TO STUDY 

and writing out or dictating those fascinating his- 
tories, volume after volume, on the French in the 
New World. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote much 
ii bed, too sick to sit up. Pope was so frail that he 
cculd not sit at his desk without a bandage to 
hold his weak body erect. Good hope and con- 
fidence rise superior to all ills. Nothing could daunt 
the spirit of these men. It cannot be proved that 
the life of one of them was cut short a day by his 
intellectual exertions. Success is a medicine that 
often more than cures every pain that accompanies 
hard work. 

Summary. Have confidence I 

Lack of money, ill health, slowness of intellect have 
been no barriers to great achievement in the case of 
others. 

Think of what you have already won; open your 
mind to the rich world of thought still before you and 
have confidence that you can conquer it. 

Undertake no impossible task. 

Try to do what is reasonable; and with happy- 
earnest confidence, go forward and do it. 



III. Have Fixed Hours for Study and 
Plunge in when the Hour Comes 

Nothing can be more helpful to the student than 
to set certain definite hours for the preparation of ?^^5^ ^^ 
definite studies. If hours are fixed, habit steps in make study 
and makes it easy to begin the task at the appointed ^^^y- 
time. In fact, if the habit is kept up long enough, 
study will be easier, when the study hour comes, 
than anything else. On the other hand, the student 
who has no fixed program of study outside of class 
wastes every day an enormous amount of time and 
energy getting himself launched in his work, and he 
always risks being inadequately prepared. This 
statement is true of all students, and especially of 
the young, who still find mental work irksome. 

William James says, "There is no more miser- 
able human being than one in whom nothing is ^J^^PP^. 
habitual but indecison, and for whom the lighting decision, 
of every cigar, the drinking of every cup, the time 
of rising and going to bed every day, and the 
beginning of every bit of work, are subjects of ex- 
press volitional deliberation. Full half the time of 
such a man goes to the deciding, or regretting, of 
matters which ought to be so ingrained in him as 
practically not to exist for his consciousness at all. 
If there be such daily duties not yet ingrained in 
any one of my readers, let him begin this very hour 
to set the matter right." 



22 HOW TO STUDY 

Did you ever note the effect of fixed habits upon 
Habits of your own Hfe? For seven months I rose every 
morning at 4:30. At the end of that time, the 
necessity for early rising having passed, I endeav- 
ored to sleep till six o'clock, but found I could not 
sleep after the accustomed hour for rising. It 
took me weeks to acquire the new habit. A friend 
of mine, while in college, was forced for nearly two 
months to prepare all his college work after 9:00 
P.M. He retired at two o'clock and arose at 6:30. 
When it aga4n became possible for him to work 
by day, he not only found study difficult, but was 
unable to go to sleep before two in the morning. 
He had to break away from his college work 
altogether for a time, in order to acquire again a 
normal habit of sleep. 
I There are students who are in the habit of retir- 

The effect of jj^g 3^^ -^q fixed hour. If some excitement attracts, 

irregular • • i n 1 

habits of they are up late. If the evenmg is dull, they retire 

sleep on early. They go to bed whenever they get sleepy. 

study. As a result, they find it almost impossible to do 

any effective studying in the evening. They are 
handicapped by somnolence at an hour when their 
best evening work should be done. If such students, 
by whatever possible means, fix the habit of retiring 
at ten or ten-thirty every night, they will find even- 
ing hours an excellent time for quiet study. Per- 
sistent habit will soon break the early sleepiness. 
Nine hours of sleep are enough for boys and girls 
in high school; eight, for college students. 

It is the curse of irregular hours that nature can 
never be relied upon to hold a man's mind efficient 



HAVE FIXED HOURS FOR STUDY 23 

when efficiency is wanted. The young man who is 
out at night until one or two o'clock, and goes to 
bed the next night at eight-thirty or nine to make 
up his sleep, can never succeed as a student. He 
can never be sure that sleepiness will not overtake 
him early on the third night as well. 

Of course all know what slaves bad habits make 
of those who get accustomed to lying, using slang or Idleness a 
profanity, tobacco or liquor, etc. But did you ever industry a 
realize that industry is a habit and idleness as well? good one. 
Many a student passes among teachers and class- 
mates as a person of weak mentality w^hen he is 
really only a habitual loafer. It has been my good 
fortune to create a crisis in the lives of some of these, 
as a result of which they broke the habit of idleness 
and launched the habit of industry. In such cases ' 

I have seen a record of failures cease and give way 
to the highest marks in the school. Habits are 
either cruel masters or powerful allies, according as 
men carelessly yield to vicious ones or thoughtfully 
accustom themselves to those which are helpful. 
The loafer is not happier than the industrious man; 
he may be an idler simply because he has become 
carelessly fixed in that bad habit, and is quite un- 
conscious that he is indulging in one of the seven 
deadly sins. 

The first thing that you as a student should do 
is to habituate yourself to fixed hours of study, ^j^^^ ^^^^s 
Have definite hours for definite work and don't make^for 
let the hour go by' unemployed. In the course of success and 
a few weeks you can scarcely do anything but study 
when the hour comes. Haphazard students, who 



24 



HOW TO STUDY 



Typical 
study pro- 
gram. 



study a lesson one day at one hour and another 
day at another, frequently fail to study at all. 
For them it is just as hard to settle down to work 
at the last as it was at the first. The work gets no 
easier; they are always behindhand, hurried, and 
worried by unfinished work. 

It is well to fill out a complete program of recita- 
tion and study hours at the beginning of the term. 
Suppose that in high school there are seven recita- 
tion periods, for five of which you are in class, as, 
for instance, the following: 
9 :oo A.M. Algebra 

9:4s " 

10:30 " English 

11:15 '' 



I :oo P.M. 


Latin 


1:45 " 


History 


2:30-3:15 


Physical Training and Art. 



The 9:45 period should be devoted to the study 
of algebra. Just after the recitation the explana- 
tions will be remembered and the assignment clear. 
Interest will be at a higher pitch and the work can 
be done with less efi"ort than at a subsequent time. 
For the same reasons the 11:15 period should be 
given to the study of English in preparation for 
the following day's recitation. If there are library 
references to be looked up in history, this work 
should be done directly after school hours. 

A good program of home study would be as follows: 

7 : 30- 8 : 00, Latin. 

8 : 10- 8 :3o, Complete the Algebra preparation. 

8 : 40- 9 : 30, History 

9 : 40-10 :oo, Latin. 



HAVE FIXED HOURS FOR STUDY 25 

The following morning — 

8 : 30- 8 : 50, Review History, English, and Latin. 

Your schedule of study hours should be just as 

fixed and definite as your schedule of recitations, Fixed hours 
1 . • • 11 rr^i of study and 

and should be adhered to just as rigidly. The irregular 

obiection will be made that it does not always ^ssign- 
, 1 1 r • 1 ments. 

require the same length of time to prepare the 

lessons in a given subject, some preparations requir- 
ing much less than the average time and others more. 
When the lesson requires less time, there will be 
more opportunity to review or to look ahead in 
anticipation of a longer lesson on the morrow. 
When a longer lesson has been assigned than the 
student can get in the reasonable time assigned for 
study, he should feel free to tell his instructor 
frankly that he had not time to prepare it because 
the assignment was too long. 

Further objection may be made to the program 

of home work on the ground that it keeps the stu- dividual 

. Ill circum- 

dent up too late or necessitates too much work by stances 

lamplight. If it is preferred, one hour's work may should gov- 
be done in the afternoon. In that case the evening study pro- 
work will be completed by nine o'clock. If the gram, 
family has an early breakfast, an hour may be taken 
from the evening study and added to the morning 
before school. Yet another possibility is to take 
four hours on Saturday for preparing in some subject 
an entire week's work in advance; in history, Eng- 
lish, or translation this can easily be done. A few 
minutes' review each day will then be all that is 
required. Thus the individual program may vary 



26 HOW TO STUDY 

in many ways to accord with individual prefer- 
ences. The important points are that a liberal 
allowance of time be given, and that the program 
once made be rigidly followed, at least until inter- 
est reenforces habit or makes strict hours less 
necessary. If other business requires punctual 
and regular attention, why should not the impor- 
tant business of studying? 

Suppose a college man has a week's program of 
lectures and recitations as follows: 

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 

g-io German German German German German 

lo-ii Mathematics Math. Math. Math. Math. 

1-2 History Economics History Economics History 

3-4 Phys. Tr. Military D. Phys. Tr. M. Drill Phys. Tr. 

The periods of study and preparation may be 
assigned as follows: 

1 1 : oo-i 2 : oo, Study German. 
2 : oo- 3 : oo, Study Mathematics. 

7 : 30- 8 : 30, Study History or Economics. 
8:30- 9:30, Study Mathematics. 
9:30-10:30, Study German. 

The following morning — 

8:00- 9:00, Study History and Economics. 

Of course there will be ten minutes of rest and 

Further relaxation from time to time and especially be- 
comment on .. ^. . . . , 

this study tween studies. This program anticipates no study 

program. ^i ^i\ q^ Saturday. If six or eight hours are devoted 

to study on Saturday, the program of work during 

the five days may be considerably shortened, and 

in most instances this would be highly desirable. 

Mental efficiency demands complete rest one day 



HAVE FIXED HOURS FOR STUDY 27 

in seven. You will notice that in the college 
man's program the hours of greatest efficiency, in 
both morning and afternoon, are devoted to lectures 
and recitation; and that the climax of power in 
the evening comes at the hour devoted to mathe- 
matics. Some persons vary somewhat from this 
norm in their curve of mental efficiency. Those who 
eat an early and light breakfast may find the hour 
from eight to nine well suited to their hardest study. 

The use of the mind is as instinctive as the use 
of the body. That which is instinctive is also agree- Plunging in 
able. When once the work is fairly begun, when ing to the 
your mind is " limbered up " and you are warmed to ^o^^^- 
the work, study will not seem so tedious as it did in 
contemplation before you began. You have seen 
a group of boys at the old swimming hole shiver- 
ing for a moment on the bank because the water 
below looks cold. Presently one plunges in and 
cries, "Come on, fellows, it's dandy!" Another 
boy puts in first one foot, then the other, and wades 
slowly out with a shudder at every step. It is a 
long time before he begins to enjoy the swim. In 
your studies be like the hardy swimmer who plunges 
in at once. Don't stand shivering on the bank. 
You will find the work less difficult and much more 
enjoyable. More than that, you will accustom 
yourself to habits of promptness and industry that 
will carry you through many a struggle without the 
loss of energy that comes from indecision. You 
will do your work without so great effort of the will. 

Have fixed hours for study ^ and plunge in when the Summary. 
hour comes. 



■^^ IV. Begin by Recalling What you 

ALREADY KnOW 

New ideas and facts are not easily grasped unless 
Value of the there are already present in the mind other facts 
tive mass." which are more or less related to the new. We 
cannot readily assimilate that which has no bearing 
upon what we already know. In fact, the mind can 
with difficulty give attention to thought material 
which is wholly novel; for it can get no grip on 
that which does not relate to our present stock of 
knowledge. It is one of the advantages of a liberal 
education that the expanding mind comes to have 
some knowledge and interest in every direction. 
Such expansion of knowledge and extension of in- 
terest act to strengthen the attention and add still 
further to the interest. Attention is stronger in 
the adult than in the young; in the learned than in 
the ignorant. The more we know, the more easily 
can we acquire more knowledge. 

However slender your stock of knowledge may be, 

Recalling y^^ should make use of what you have in acquiring 

the previous ^^ -i i • / n- i 

lesson. more, you can easily begm by recallmg what you 

have learned before on the subject or lesson in 
hand. For instance, in history, first go back to the 
previous lesson and recall what you studied and 
what was brought out in class. You will begin to 
wonder how certain events are to turn out. Curios- 
ity will become active. You will get a purpose for 



ISI 



RECALL WHAT YOU KNOW 29 

going further, a live interest. The purpose will 
make further reading far more effective, as well 
as easier and more pleasant. 

It is well to look at the general topics of the new 
lesson and then recall whether you have ever learned Recalling 
anything from any source whatever, in school or to the lesson 
out, about these topics. In the light of the pre- topic, 
vious lesson and of what you have learned elsewhere, 
imagine the general content of the new material 
for study; think what it will be about; in the his- 
tory lesson, think what events will result from what 
you already knov>r. Now read to satisfy your mind. 

This method of work is not fanciful nor merely 

theoretical. Some of the greatest minds among the Y^lue of 

^, , , - ^. , this method, 

most emment statesmen and scholars have practiced 

it. John Morley, Daniel Webster, Lord Strafford, 

and Noah Porter are examples. They had a way 

of recalling the related old before reading the new 

— a way which the known principles of psychology 

now approve, a way which must result in increased 

interest and attention. It strengthens the memory; 

for it makes recall of the new material quicker and 

more certain. It fastens the new thought to 

thoughts which you can already recall, and gives to 

it almost as great ease of recurrence. If you can 

recall A, and B is associated in your mind with A, 

then you can recall B also. 

Nothing in the mind exists unrelated. Whatever 

is there has been introduced by something else that Relate the 
•n 1 1 • 1 • 1 • • 1 1 rr^i new to the 

will always be associated with it in thought. The old. 

mind tends to recall the one thing when it recalls 

the other. Facts that have the greatest number 



30 



HOW TO STUDY 



Controlling 
the stream 
of conscious- 
ness. 



Growth in 
power of 
recall and 
consequent 
value of 
studies. 



of associations are the most readily recalled. Those 
that are most isolated are most difficult to remem- 
ber. Memory demands the association of ideas. 

It is not for the sake of memory alone that you 
should recall what you have previously learned 
before undertaking to read or study further on the 
same subject. Efforts to recall will help to give 
command of yourself, of your inner life, or stream 
of consciousness. Often other and more interest- 
ing ideas will rise and take the place of that which 
you wish to study or hold before your mind. 
Thoughts of other things will come between you 
and the difficult reading you wish to do. In such 
cases little reliance can be placed upon the will. 
Voluntary attention, as has been said, gives con- 
trol for only a few seconds at a time and at the cost 
of exhausting effort. You become disgusted with 
work done so painfully, and are likely to lose con- 
fidence in yourself. But when such a period of 
recalling, such a warming-up process as has been 
described above, precedes the reading, then the mind 
can be held much more attentively fixed upon the 
work in hand. There is a gain in mental control. 

When the practice of recalling before reading 
shall have been kept up for some time, you will 
marvel at the facility which you have acquired. 
At first without the stimulus of teacher and class it 
will be almost impossible to remember the previous 
lesson. You will find yourself stealing a look 
into the text in order to get started. As days go 
by you will recall more and more of the previous 
lessons. The subject matter, instead of being car- 



RECALL WHAT YOU KNOW 31 

ried to the threshold of memory and then pushed 
off into the limbo of forgotten things, will become 
alive; it will become a subject of thought on which 
you will ponder in leisure hours and of which you 
will speak when you walk and talk with friends. 

It is necessary in study to have general purposes 
that spur one seriously to make the first efforts. 
You must have such good reasons for study as were purposes "in 
considered under the caption, ''Know that your study, 
work is worth while." ^ It is quite as necessary to 
have immediate objects and purposes in preparing 
each specific assignment. You may know in general 
that you ought to study, yet fail to do so because 
you lack an immediate purpose. Such a purpose 
will be secured by recalling what you already know 
before reading further; and this purpose will be 
your own. It may come to you in the form of a 
problem, suggested by natural curiosity — a prob- 
lem for which you will desire to find a solution by 
further study. Again, a question may arise in your 
mind which you will desire to answer by reading on. 
Aimless study is about the weakest thing imagi- 
nable. Purposeful study is the parent of all progress 
and invention. 

In order to put yourself in full possession of your 
faculties when you begin to study, warm up to your work Summary. 
hy recalling what you already know on the subject. 

Recalling will make the work more purposeful and 
interesting, will increase your power of attention, and 
will help you both to understand and to remember what 
you read. 

^ See pages 5-10. 



y 



Useful 
knowledge 
is related. 



It is more 
easily re- 
membered if 
the rela- 
tions are 
seen. 



Examples of 
this. 



V. First Study the Lesson as a Whole; 

THEN GO BACK TO DIFFICULTIES 

Much time may be gained in the preparation of 
a lesson if it is first studied as a whole. Knowledge 
does not exist as separate units. Facts cannot be 
regarded as so many distinct pebbles that may be 
dropped into the mind one at a time. The jewels 
of thought are not solitaires; they may be likened, 
rather, to a string of pearls. You cannot attempt 
to store them in your mind, one by one, without 
losing many and destroying the beauty and sig- 
nificance of all. 

Observe the workings of your own mind. Notice 
how, when you think of one thing, another idea 
which is in some way related to it comes presently 
into your mind. If the relationship is clear when the 
facts are studied, they will be easily remembered. 
Each fact will help you to remember the others 
related to it. Contrasts, similarities, relations of 
cause and effect, of nearness in place and time — 
these are the more usual relations that connect one 
idea with another. The thought wdll be more 
easily remembered if the assignment is studied as 
a whole rather than by parts; for only so can the 
connecting relations be seen. 

Thus the government and the social life of Athens 
become clearer and more easily remembered by con- 
trasting them with those of Sparta. The flora and 



STUDY THE LESSON AS A WHOLE S3 

fauna of any region are more easily grasped by com- 
parison with those of other regions that have similar 
climatic conditions. The American Revolution 
becomes far more significant and its details easier 
to recall, if we know its causes and results as well 
as the chain of events that brought it to a conclu- 
sion. The historical events that preceded and at- 
tended a literary period give meaning to that period. 
In earth study, the gorge and the waterfall can be 
easily understood when other effects of erosion are 
studied at the same time. Examples of the bene- 
fits of association of ideas by first studying the 
whole may be multiplied in every school subject. 
The recollection of one of these associated ideas will 
bring to mind the other related facts and ah will 
gain in clearness by the association. 

To study without understanding is to learn 
words, not thoughts. When the relations are seen, Learning 
the thought is understood. Every one has seen sentence 
young children poring over a sentence and then difficuh and 
repeating it word by word, over and over again, to able^° 
mernorize it. This is an exceedingly long and la- 
borious w^ay of acquiring knowledge. It takes very 
much longer to learn by repeating sentences than 
it does by repeating the whole assignment. And 
when the assignment has been memorized sentence 
by sentence, there is very great danger that it will 
not be in the least understood; in which case the 
learning is worse than useless. 

Furthermore, learning sentence by sentence takes ^^ \^^ ^^S^^ 
- 1 , , r of the whole 

no account of the unequal values of sentences, values are 

Some single sentences have the thought of a whole ^^^^- 



34 



HOW TO STUDY 



paragraph packed into them. Others are merely 
transitional or introductory, and serve only as sign 
posts to point the thought on toward the really 
significant thing which is coming in a later sentence. 
Some sentences merely repeat in other words or sum 
up what was said in a previous sentence or sentences. 
In the light of the whole, the inequality of values is 
clearly seen; and then the mind hurries over the 
unimportant and dwells on that which is truly 
significant. 

When the whole has once been read, a second 
reading becomes full of meaning. The thought 
plays over and around each sentence as you read, 
bringing light from the whole lesson with which to 
illumine and explain each part. You read between 
the lines, reflecting as you read upon the similari- 
f ties and contrasts and upon the relations of cause 
and effect. All this work adds to the interest and 
gives power of attention, which "is the mother of 
memory." 

In the translation of an assignment of work in 
a foreign language, your first step after recalling 
the content of the previous lesson should be to 
endeavor to get the author's drift by reading the 
whole assignment or a considerable part of it at sight. 
In the light of the whole, go back and look up the 
new words. You will quickly see the special meaning 
of a new word when you have the general thought 
of the passage to guide you. Without a first rapid 
survey of the whole, you are likely to choose the 
wrong translation, for many a word has widely 
divergent meanings; and your progress will be slow, 



STUDY THE LESSON AS A WHOLE 35 

for you will flounder along in confusion and doubt 
if you have not first seen the general drift of the 
thought. 

In the study of history it is especially important 
to study by wholes. It will be found that part is ^^ makes 
related to part; and the significance of each will more 
be seen in its relation to the rest. History lessons interesting, 
should be studied by the topical method, even if 
some topics are too long for one day's recitation. 
I know a young man whose history work gains in- 
terest and power from the fact that for hours on 
Saturday of each week he reads far in advance of 
the class. Naturally enough he enjoys this read- 
ing. When very short sections of either history or 
literature are read at intervals of a day, the rela- 
tion of part to part is often not sufficiently evi- 
dent to make interesting reading. The student 
loses the connection, and is almost forced to fall 
back on the process of memory cramming. 

Even in mathematics it is a mistake not to look 
over the whole lesson before beginning the solu- Applicable 
tions. Some problems will be found easier than matics. 
others, and should be solved first, whether they 
come first or last in the text. The power and 
insight gained by solving them may be sufficient to 
enable you to solve those which at first were found 
too difiicult. I have known pupils to "get stuck" 
upon the second or third problem of a lesson, and 
lose all their time on it without even taking a look 
at problems farther on which might have been 
solved with little effort. 

It is especially valuable in all examinations to 



36 HOW TO STUDY 

go over the whole paper and answer first the ques- 
tions to which answers and solutions readily occur 
to you. Thus a larger portion of the questions 
will have been answered in the given time. 

What is true of language, literature, history, and 
mathematics is equally true of each of the sciences. 
These should also be mastered as wholes rather than 
as parts. In science the data are related to general 
laws, and many of the laws are interrelated. Read- 
ing ahead to get a bird's-eye view of what is com- 
ing will often render rich returns of insight and 
interest. 

In memorizing a poem of even two or three pages 
Learning by [^ length, much time can be saved by repeating the 
poem from beginning to end, and much wasted 
by repeating individual stanzas or lines. Make no 
mistakes in the first reading, for every mistake tends 
to repeat itself. Care should be taken to go slowly; 
later repetitions may be the faster and surer because 
of early care and accuracy. 

To sum up, endeavor to follow the law of associa- 
Summary. Hq^ qJ ideas; try to relate knowledge as you acquire it. 

In order to further this end, study by wholes rather 
than by parts. 

Go back to special difficulties and solve them in 
the light of the whole. 

Then go over the lesson again as a whole and read 
into every part the significance given it by the previous 
general survey. 



VI. Study Aloud or with Lips Moving 

If one of our students were to enter a Chinese 

school, he would laugh to hear pupils studying at Chinese 

ri. . -r. ^ 11- schools not 

the top of their voices. But such a method is not soridicu- 

without scientific justification. The louder voice ^°^s- 
makes the deeper impression; and though the con- 
fusion of other voices in the same room at the same 
time may in some degree offset the gain, neverthe- 
less it is true that to study in an undertone or with 
lips moving is a decided advantage to the young ? 
student in difficult work. Certainly he should not . 
annoy others. 

All during waking hours there passes through 

the mind a stream of consciousness. The thought "^^^ 

1-1 stream of 
runs on from one related thing to another m end- conscious- 
less succession. Many thought images are re- ^^ss." 
jected at once by the will, while others are chosen 
for further consideration. Especially recurrent in 
the stream of consciousness are thoughts of those 
things that interest us. Interesting thoughts come 
back again and again, while the uninteresting can 
scarcely get attention. Sometimes in the stream 
is a strain of music, a popular song; sometimes 
pictures of things seen; and sometimes mere feel- 
ings. Often one is conscious of a succession of 
spoken words heard within him. All these are 
called thought images or mental imagery, whether 
they repeat things perceived by eye and ear, or 
things felt. 



3^ 



HOW TO STUDY 



It tends to 
flow in inde- 
pendent 
channels in 
hard read- 
ing. 



Mental im- 
agery, audi- 
tory, visual, 
and motor. 



Now this stream of consciousness goes on when 
you study. If you have a body of knowledge or 
experience related to that about which you are 
reading, the stream will play about the author's 
thought, expanding, explaining, testing, or illus- 
trating it; in this way, of course, you are greatly 
aided in understanding what you study. So we 
insist that you begin your study by recalling what 
you have already learned. But very often with 
young students there is no body of knowledge al- 
ready present in the mind to flow along as directed 
by the reading ; and when such knowledge is lacking 
there is great likelihood that consciousness will 
flow in independent channels and completely shut 
out the author. Thus other thoughts, more insist- 
ent and backed by a vigorous memory, may rise 
and come between you and your work. In that 
case it is far easier to hold attention on the text when 
you pronounce the words aloud. 

There is another reason for reading aloud: you 
can remember better what you read. The stream 
of consciousness described above will be recognized 
as the activity of memory. It is clear from what 
has been said that there is a memory for sounds. 
This may come to predominate in some minds, es- 
pecially in that of the actor, clergyman, or public 
speaker, much of whose consciousness is likely to 
be haunted by the memory of spoken words. The 
musician's mind, by the same token, will be haunted 
by the sound of tunes. The builder, artist, archi- 
tect, or engineer may find that his stream of con- 
sciousness is largely made up of things seen. While 



STUDYING ALOUD 39 

all who speak or sing or use their hands with 
skill will have in sensations from the muscles of 
throat, fingers, etc., a motor reflex, which is the 
memory of things done. This last form of memory, 
called motor imagery, is quite as important as any 
of the others; though it may act more automati- 
cally, so that we are as a result less conscious of it. 
Consider how the pianist memorizes the execution 
of long and difficult compositions. Memory acts so 
powerfully that he remembers and repeats difficult 
fingering without conscious effort. Not less wonder- 
ful is the memory of tensions in the vocal chords 
acquired by trained singers. 

By studying aloud you can make use of the motor 

memory, while at the same time you are makino; Studying 

1 1 r 1 1 • -1 aloud gives 

channels tor the subject matter to connect with multiple im- 

the visual and the auditory memory-tracts. A few agery. 
words of explanation may be necessary here. Cer- 
tain areas or tracts on the outer surface of the brain 
are centers for impulses from certain external 
organs. Different areas receive 'and send out 
special sense or motor impulses. Thus there is a 
center that connects with organs of sight, another 
with organs of hearings and there is a third center 
for motor and touch impulses. Associated with 
each is a region that retains, works over, and gets 
ideas from these impulses or sensations. 

Sometimes one center is more highly efficient 
than another in the same brain. Sometimes acci- Effect of 
dent or disease takes away all efficiency from a agery on 
center; as when a person, still able to understand memory, 
words that he hears, loses the power to get ideas 



40 



HOW TO STUDY 



Especially 
valuable in 
learning a 
foreign 
tongue. 



Studying 
aloud pre- 
pares best 
for oral reci- 



tations. 



from the words he sees on a printed page. When 
the visual center is highly efficient, the person is 
said to be eye-minded. Other persons are ear- 
minded or motor-minded. It is seldom if ever true 
that people are exclusively eye-minded, ear-minded, 
or motor-minded. Memory acts by all these paths 
according as the original sensation comes to us. 
The ability to recall a thing will he greatly increased 
if all three forms of imagery — the visual, auditory, 
and motor — are employed. 

In the study of foreign languages, ancient as 
well as modern, it is especially important to study 
aloud. In fact, the development of motor and 
auditory imagery is often the key to success. In 
the case of language the memory for words acts 
more naturally through sound channels than through 
those of sight. It has been well said that the 
true word is the spoken word; and that its real 
significance can never be learned except through 
the medium of speech. Appreciation of style as 
revealed by rhythm is impossible without the 
sound. Therefore, in learning a language, it should 
be read aloud. Again and again read aloud in -the 
foreign tongue. 

Whatever the subject, if the recitation is to be 
an oral one, students will find it especially helpful 
to read the lesson aloud. End the study of a pas- 
sage of Latin by translating it aloud. It will make 
translation in class doubly sure. History, English, 
rhetoric, science, any subject — if hard or if an 
oral recitation is to follow — will be more easily 
learned by studying it aloud or with lips moving. 



STUDYING ALOUD 41 

To sum up: Study aloud or with lips moving in 
order (/) to strengthen attention and hold the mind Summary. 
upon the work in hand, and (2) to strengthen the 
memory hy providing more mediums for recall. 



VII. Practice Recall as you Study; and in 
Drill Work Repeat at Increasing Intervals 



Recall of 
previous 
lesson. 



Recall dur- 
ing study. 



This gives 
understand- 
ing and con- 
centration. 



You have seen the value of recalHng what was 
learned at the previous recitation and elsewhere 
on the topic assigned, before you begin the study of 
the topic or assignment. This recall was for two 
purposes, (i) to use this material as hooks on which 
to fasten the new knowledge, and (2) to allow the 
mind to create a purpose for study through curios- 
ity and natural interest, so that the attention will 
be stronger. 

From time to time during the process of study 
there should be brief periods of recall at which the 
material you have just read is quickly reviewed. 
The purpose of such a period is also two-fold: in 
the first place, it enables you to test the efficiency 
of your attention during the reading, by asking 
whether you are really getting the thought; and in 
the second place, it helps you to make what you 
study available for future use by fixing it more 
securely in the memory. 

There is no better way to find out whether words 
are being seen without their thought content, or 
meaning, than by pausing from time to time to 
recall the thought. No effort should be made to 
recall the exact wording. Instead, a conscious 
effort should be made to frame the author's thought 
without regard to his words. Such a test is search- 
ing and calls for vigor of intellect. It will be found 



PRACTICE RECALL AS YOU STUDY 43 

wearisome, especially at first, to those who have 

never practiced it. But be assured there is no other 

method half so valuable in acquiring the power of 

concentration, which is the key to successful 

scholarship. 

How many a student in high school and in college 

thinks he is studying when really he is only reading Frequent 
r . TT ..,.,, ."^ waste of 

words! He comes to a quiz m philosophy or in time in 

political economy only to find that the hours he study \vith- 

onf rpppll 

has spent in reading have availed him nothing. He 
cannot even remember the words, while of course 
he had never really reached the thought back of the 
words. The habit of stopping to recall may seem 
at first wasteful, but in the end it is by far the quick- 
est way to learn. It is safe to say that when it is 
acquired early in a high school or college course, it 
saves much of the student's time. If persisted in 
there comes at last such power of concentration 
that in a single reading the trained mind learns 
more than the untrained learns in half a dozen 
readings. 

There are or should be limitations to the use of 
the method of frequent recall. It need not be used Especially^ 
at all in easy reading; as, for example, English hard read- 
Hterature. It is the reading of unfamiHar, abstract, ^^S- 
abstruse thought that needs frequent testing. And 
bear in mind, also, that pauses should occur only at 
divisions of thought. The more difficult the thought, 
the more frequent the pauses must be, but the 
paragraph ending will usually mark the place for 
recalling and recasting in the mind the difficult 
thought in the paragraph. 



44 



HOW TO STUDY 



Value of 
right memo 
rizing. 



So much for the method of frequent recall in 
difficult reading as a means of testing the efficiency 
of attention. Another reason for this practice is 
to make the thought more available for future use 
by fixing it more firmly in the memory. 

Of late years there has been a good deal said 
and written against what is called ''mere memoriz- 
ing." I take it, however, that the quarrel is not 
really with memorizing as such, but with the method 
of memorizing. It is the habit of memorizing mere 
words without mastering the meaning back of them 
that educators decry when they speak of "mere 
memorizing." They insist upon learning to under- 
stand rather than to remember. Yet to understand 
anything is the best and surest way of remembering 
it; nor is any truth of so little value to the student 
as to be best forgotten. 

A considerable part of the work done in high 

Where drill school and college is of a sort that demands learn- 

is needeci. 

ing by heart. Of course this process is most neces- 
sary in earlier education. Memory drill alone can 
adequately fix the multiplication table, the rules 
and forms of English grammar, and the spelling of 
difficult words. The foreign language courses of 
high school and college make a like appeal for mem- 
ory drill. Even in a course like geometry, which 
is supposed to train the reasoning powers almost 
exclusively, if the theorems, axioms, and postulates 
are not memorized, the attack on new work is 
weakened. Memory brings up the ammunition 
without which new problems will not succumb to 
attack. It has been justly said, "Memory is the 



PRACTICE RECALL AS YOU STUDY 45 

purveyor of reason." It furnishes the materials 

of thought here and everywhere. 

Thus a knowledge of the best methods of fixing 

needed facts in the memory will always be valu- In drill work 

11 1 1 T-> 1 -n 1 • . repeat at 

able to the student, ror drill work, repetition as increasing 

well as recall will be found necessary. In memoriz- intervals, 
ing or other drill work, repeat at increasing intervals. 
For instance, suppose you wish to master the 
spelling of a new and difficult word: you will not 
learn it so thoroughly by spelling it aloud or writ- 
ing it ten consecutive times as you will by repeating 
the spelling say twice in the morning, twice in the 
afternoon, twice on the morrow, twice on the fourth 
day, and twice on the tenth day. The law applies 
to other pure memory processes, such as learning 
a poem or the vocabulary of a foreign language. 
Frequent short sittings are much more effective for 
drill than one long one ; and if these short sittings are 
repeated at increasing intervals, the retention of the 
matter studied will be far more sure and enduring. 
Each repetition at a given time occurs with less 

interest and attention, and in consequence with Reason for 
^ ^ rr i • i -r. r increase of 

weakened etiect upon the mind. But after an intervals. 

interval the effect of a repetition will again be 

heightened. Fatigue and ennui are both fatal to 

efficient study. To avoid these in drih work, have 

frequent short sittings rather than a single long one, 

and repeat at increasing intervals. Out of all 

proportion to the time required for such reviews 

is the value received. And nearly every subject 

has some principles of such prime importance as 

to warrant fixing them in the mind by drill. 



• 46 HOW TO STUDY 

To test the efficiency of your reading and to compel 
Summary, the right attention in difficult passages, pause from 
time to time at the natural pauses of thought and 
recall what you have just read to see if you are getting 
the thought. This will also help to fix in mind what 
you are reading. 

In drill work make frequent short sittings and 
repeat at increasing intervals. 



VIII. Make a Synopsis and Visualize it 

McMurry, in How to Study and Teaching Others 

How to Study, calls attention to the fact that the ^ , 

_ - - - , , . 1 1 1 . 1 ,.i Peaks of 

field of thought is never a level plain, but more like thought. 

a range of mountains in which important ideas 
rise like peaks above those of lesser importance. 
Each of the peaks is supported by masses of related 
details at its base. It should be the chief end of 
study, the first and last business of the student, to 
discern the mountain peaks, to see that the main 
thoughts do stand out prominently in the mind and 
that all the lesser details are grouped in right rela- 
tion to them and to one another. 

In discerning relative importance, much will al- 
ready have been done for you when the high school Previous 
is reached. Good teachers of oral reading will the discern- 
have taught you to dwell longer and to place greater "^^nt of im- 
emphasis of voice upon those sentences and pas- points, 
sages that contain important thoughts. They 
will have taught you to give less time and stress 
to the words and sentences that are relatively 
unimportant. Teachers of grammar will have 
helped you to keep in mind the subject of thought 
in each sentence, and to see what is closely related 
and what is loosely related, what is subordinate and 
what is independent in the relations within the sen- 
tence. Teachers of Latin will have taught you to 
test the accuracy of your translations by demand- 



48 HOW TO STUDY 

ing that every sentence shall yield up a sensible 
meaning of its own, as well as show a clear and 
definite relation to other sentences. 
Teachers of rhetoric in the high school will 

Help from j^g^p yQ^ iq gee the relations within a para- 
your training ^ "^ . ^ . 

in English, graph; to pick out the topic sentence, the transi- 
tional, the illustrative, the summarizing sentences 
— ability of great value in discovering the peaks of 
thought. In all your reading, sentence study will 
help you to see the important thoughts of the 
paragraph and to discern the relations of other 
sentences to these. In your work in English litera- 
ture you will learn to see the plot in fiction, the 
forces contesting for supremacy, the episodes that 
develop the plot, and the relation of each episode 
to the ultimate solution, all such learning bringing 
increase to your powers. 

But in my opinion the most valuable training a 

Value of the student receives, that which will help him most in 
outhne or , . r i n i • ^ - ^ 

synopsis. the preparation of nearly all his work, is the train- 
ing in outlining by synopsis the thought of an 
author like Burke or like Macaulay. 

Below is part of a synoptical outline of Burke's 

Outline of Speech on Conciliation. Notice how the moun- 

Burke s 

speech. tam peaks of thought are brought out under the 

headings in capital letters, A and B; how subordi- 
nate headings of lesser though still important 
weight come under the Roman numerals; while 
subordinate to these are other points under Arabic 
numerals, which in turn may have subordinate de- 
tails under small letters. The peaks of thought 
are set further to the left. It is essential, also, to 



VALUE OF A SYNOPSIS 49 

clearness of thought in such an outline to arrange 
in a vertical column headings which are coordinate 
in thought, so that one will come directly under 
another. It is also important that coordinate head- 
ings, being parallel in thought, be made parallel 
in wording and in construction, as, for example, 
through the device of using the same introductory 
word for the sentences, or by having coordinate 
thoughts cast in the same sentence forms. 

Bueke's Speech on Conciliation 
Introduction 

A. Why Burke speaks on the American question at this time. Burke's 

T rr., * . • • , r , . speech on 

1. Ihe American question is worthy of the serious atten- conciliation 

tion of Parhament. 

1. Parhament regarded it as serious when Burke first 

took his seat. 

2. Parhament has been fluctuating in opinion regarding 

the method of treating America, while Burke has 
not. 

3. Parliament has taken no effective measures dealing 

with America. 
II. Burke feels called upon to speak for the opposition. 

1. His party must show its hand. 

2. His own insignificance may aid his cause by divesting 

it of all personal consideration. 

B. Burke's proposition is to secure peace by reconciliation. 

I. His proposal of peace differs from Lord North's. 

I. Because it does not propose an auction of finance. 
II. His proposal resembles Lord North's. 

I. Because North's is based upon the same principle of 
peace and reconciliation. 
III. This proposal of peace should come from England. 
I. Because England is the superior power. 



50 HOW TO STUDY 

IV. Argument as to why and how England should concede 
should be based not on theory but on the nature and 
circumstances of America. 

Brief Proper 

A. England ought to conciliate the colonies. 

I. Because the population and wealth of America are too 

great to be disregarded. 

1. Her great and growing population make her formi- 

dable. 

2. Her commerce is extensive and important to 

England. 

3. Her agricultural products support England. 

4. Her fisheries exhibit the vigor of a free people. 

5. Force is not the best means for preserving the 

colonies, since 
a. Force is but temporary. 
h. Force is uncertain. 

c. Force impairs the very object it would preserve. 

d. Force is not backed by experience. 

II. Because the temper and character of Americans render 

them formidable. 

1. Their descent from EngUshmen fosters a spirit of 

freedom. 

a. As such they are devoted to freedom. 

h. As such they regard the power of taxing them- 
selves as the mark of freedom. 

2. Their form of government fosters a spirit of freedom. 

3. Their religion fosters this spirit. 

4. Their institution of slavery fosters it. 

5. Their education fosters it. 

6. Their distance from England fosters it. 

III. Because coercion has been found unwise by experience. 
I. It is hard to remove causes of trouble, since 

a. It is unwise to check the growth in population 
and wealth. 



VALUE OF A SYNOPSIS 51 

b. It is impossible to alter the temper and character 

of the colonists. 

c. It is impossible to pump the ocean dry. 

2. It is impolitic to punish Americans as criminals, for 

a. Their number forbids criminal procedure. 

b. Their plea for privilege is not rebellion. 

c. Their punishment thus far by England has 

proved inexpedient. 
B. England ought to conciliate the colonies by satisfying their 
complaint on the subject of taxation. 
Etc. 

When you must make a synopsis of any subject, 

bear in mind that peaks of thought are not isolated, Interrela- 

,. . ~ . -r , , tion of 

but he m a mountam range. In other words, you points in 

must recognize the relation of facts one with an- outline. 

other — their sequence and connection in a given 

subject. Suppose, for instance, that the student of 

the history of English or American literature is 

making synoptical outlines of each author studied. 

His work may include the following topics : 

1 . Name and dates. 

2. Birthplace and residence. 

3. Parentage. 

4. Boyhood and education. 

5. Travel and occupation. 

6. Times. 

7. Friends and contemporaries. 

8. Works. 

9. Style, character of work, and place in literature. 

If each of the nine items listed above is studied 
with no reference to the rest, all will lack significance 
to the student and will soon be forgotten. Each 
item before 8 and 9 should be studied with a view 
to interpreting 8 and 9. If 2, or 3, or 4, or 5, or 6, 



52 HOW TO STUDY 

or 7 seems to have no bearing on 8 and 9, it should 
be disregarded in the outline. 

In the study of history, keep this principle in 
Historical mind: that events are never a kaleidoscopic jum- 
ble, but bear relation to one another as of cause 
and effect. In every period of history there can 
be seen some distinguishing trait, some uniting prin- 
ciple, under which as a heading the events may be 
ranged with proper sequence of time and in orderly 
relation one to another. 

As a rule there will be found in every topic some 
highly important points to which every other point 
relates. Notice it below in the two topical outlines, 
used in studying wars and presidential terms. In 
the former, all points bear upon the provisions of 
the treaty of peace; in the latter, all bear upon 
important legislation, and especially upon presi- 
dential measures and influences. 

Topical Outline for the Study of a War 
Name of War 

1. Dates. 

2. Causes. 

a. Primary causes. 
h. Secondary causes. 
c. Precipitating cause. 

3. Countries engaged. 

4. Leaders. 

5. Chief battles and results of each. 

6. Turning points of the war. 

7. Efforts toward peace. 

8. Treaty. 

a. Place. 

h. Commissioners. 

c. Provisions. 



VALUE OF A SYNOPSIS 53 

Topical Outline for the Study of a Presidential Term 
Name of President 

1. Dates of presidential term. 

2. Prevdous experience and training of the president. 

3. Opponents in the election. 

4. Votes. 

a. Electoral. 
h. Popular. 

5. Events of importance. 

6. Legislation of importance. 

7. Presidential measures and influence on legislation. 

A generalized outline, similar to the one above, 
may be used in studying the reigns of kings. In Variety in 
covering the events and movements of history it outlines, 
is wise to use as many different synopses as possible. 
Some synoptical forms will show details, others 
will note only the most important matters. An 
example of the latter form would be an outline of 
important events and movements by centuries. 
Some outhnes will be devoted to leaders in states- 
manship, war, literature, science, or industry; others 
will be devoted to causes leading to some great 
movement or event; still others to a chain of related 
events, etc. The chronological outline of a single 
brief period of history, such for instance as may be 
covered in the class discussion of a day or a week, 
should be only the beginning of development in im- 
portant work of this kind. 

History is a subject especially suited to the 

synoptical method of study, but it is not the only Synopses 

nn^ . .1 , . . , . , / valuable m 

one. i nere is scarcely a subject m which the the study of 

student will not be helped by making outlines, ^^^y ^^^' 

Grammar, rhetoric, and the sciences will be found 



54 HOW TO STUDY 

wonderfully suited to study by synopsis; and such 
study will yield rich returns in learning and under- 
standing. Even in mathematics, reviews and pre- 
views which outline the work in synopses will be 
valuable. Here is a generalized outline for the 
demonstration of any proposition in geometry: 

1. Statement of the proposition. 

2. Construction of the figure. 

3. Data with reference to the figure. 

4. Conclusion with reference to the figure. 

5. Auxihary constructions, if any. 

6. Proof with reasons in full. 

7. Conclusion. 

Below is an outline typical of work covered in any 
department of the subject. Failure to keep in mind 
the propositions proved is often a cause of failure to 
make original demonstrations. 

Congruent Triangles 

I. Those having given two sides and the included angle of 
one equal respectively to two sides and the included angle of 
the other. 

1. Construction Unes needed, if any. 

2. Method of proof. 

3. Previous theorems, axioms, or postulates necessary to 

proof. 

4. Corollaries. 

II. Those having two angles and the included side of one 
equal respectively to two angles and the included side of the 
other. 

1. Construction lines needed, if any. 

2. Method of proof. 

3. Previous theorems, axioms, or postulates necessary to 

proof. 

4. Corollaries. 



VALUE OF A SYNOPSIS 55 

III. Those having three sides of one equal respectively to 
three sides of the other. 

1. Construction lines needed, if any. 

2. Method of proof. 

3. Previous theorems, axioms, or postulates necessary to 

proof. 

4. Corollaries. 

In the same way outlines may be made of alge- 
braic materials; rules, cases of factoring, methods 
of solving equations, all admit of outline. 

Of the three types of mental imagery — sound, 

skht, and touch — the most enduring is that of sis^ht. Permanence 
_ , , . r 1 • 1 • 1 of visual 

When you desire to fix anythmg permanently m the imagery. 

memory, make a synopsis and visualize it. Few 
can visualize page after page of reading matter. 
Points do not stand out clearly enough. But it is 
easy to fix a page containing two or three main 
headings with a certain definite number of sub- 
heads under each. Thus, not only for the sake of a 
clearer understanding of the text should you make 
an outline of it, but also in order to remember what 
you study you should make a synopsis and visualize it. 



IX. Learn When and How to Read Rapidly 

The principles of effective study so far given 
Thorough apply to thorough learning and to the attack on 
slowpro-^ new and difficult material. Thorough learning is 
cess. necessarily slow; and when drill enters in, it will 

be found tedious. Yet, slow and tedious though it 
be, thoroughness of preparation from day to day 
will usually be found by far the most economical 
in time and energy. Especially is this true of 
progressive studies like languages and mathematics. 
The cost of mastering a new Latin word when it 
first appears is but a small fraction of the time 
necessary to learn it incidentally by thumbing the 
vocabulary and looking it up again and again as it 
recurs in the text. If today's formula in algebra or 
today's theorem in geometry is thoroughly learned, 
" salted down to keep," it will save hours of dis- 
couragement later on in the course. So it is in 
much of the student's work: more time and better 
methods of study today will save long hours of 
effort in the days to come. 

And yet the student needs also to learn when and 

Need of j^q^ ^q abandon slow, careful reading; he needs to 

ing at time's, know how to skim very lightly and rapidly over 

fifty or a hundred pages of text. It often happens 

in history that some matter is referred to which the 

student remembers having met in previous reading, 



WHEN AND HOW TO READ RAPIDLY 57 

and he now wishes to refresh his mind concerning it. 
Often a thorough understanding of the passage 
before him demands this freshening up. It may be 
necessary to examine a hundred pages of text to find 
the point in question. Here is a need for rapid 
reading. 

Likewise in the second year of algebra or in the 
w^ork of the physics class the student may in his 
solution of a problem be halted till he runs back 
over his first year algebra and finds the necessary 
principles which had slipped from his memory. 
Here is another place for rapid reading. 

The alert student will always be formulating 
questions from his text — questions which the 
single author does not clear up sufficiently. Answers 
to these questions call for the rapid consultation 
of other books. To freshen his memory and make 
sure of authority for statements that he wished to 
make in the preparation of this brief book for the 
press, the writer has had to run over hundreds 
of pages of authors previously read. All writers, 
speakers, debaters, and literary workers find con- 
stant need for rapid reading of this sort. 

It is not necessary to go further to show how 

exceedingly valuable is the art of rapid reading. Pace de- 
n/r 1 1 11 . 1 manded. 

Many students read at all times at a pace not much 

faster than that acquired through oral reading. 

But much reading to be economically done demands 

a pace from two to four times as fast as oral reading. 

To read fast it is necessary to read sentence How to 

groups rather than individual words. You must ^l^^f^^^ ^°^ 

learn to leap from one sentence to the next, not 



58 



HOW TO STUDY 



The knack 
of rapid 
reading. 



stopping to dwell upon every word and phrase. 
You must learn to fill in the thought from two or 
three salient words in a line; and with no second 
glance you must press on, trusting to later sentences 
to clear up meanings that you do not instantly 
catch. Practice with reviews or with easy narra- 
tives where the subject-matter presents no special 
difficulties. In reading by sentences, give special 
attention to the beginning and end of each sentence. 
By purposeful practice in this art you can make 
great progress in ability to read rapidly. Suppose, 
for instance, after having studied a history assign- 
ment in the regular text followed in the class-room, 
you key yourself up for a ten-minute effort in rapid 
reading from some other history that covers much 
the same ground. One minute to the page would 
be a reasonably attainable speed in this, or ten 
pages in the ten minutes, w^hile to read ten pages 
aloud or silently word by word might require from 
twenty to thirty minutes. 

At first you will perhaps get little from such 
rapid reading. There is a knack in it that must 
be acquired, but by practice you will soon learn 
to get all that you need. In the history work 
referred to above, for instance, you will get enough 
by rapid reading to enable you to compare the two 
authors, to see wherein they agree and wherein they 
differ in matters of fact, as well as in the relative 
importance and significance that they assign to their 
facts. 

In consulting authorities, reading often has to 
be done at a very high speed. At the rate of one 



WHEN AND HOW TO READ RAPIDLY 59 

minute to the page it would take four hours to read Reading by 
111 1-1 -r. paragraphs 

a book of two hundred and eighty pages. But and topic 

it is often necessary to rush through an authority sentences, 
in an hour or even less. In looking up a question it 
is seldom necessary to read a book from cover to 
cover. Often, to satisfy your needs, you will consult 
the table of contents or the index, then turn directly 
to certain definite pages, and leave the rest unread. 
If, however, you desire to follow the author's argu- 
ment or exposition through from beginning to end, 
you save time by reading by paragraphs rather than 
by sentences. If you have studied rhetoric you 
know that paragraphs mean larger units of thought. 
The subject of the paragraph is usually stated 
in a brief sentence known as the topic sentence. 
The topic sentence usually comes first in the para- 
graph. The other sentences of the paragraph either 
repeat in other words or illustrate the thought 
contained in the topic sentence. Sometimes, pre- 
ceding the topic sentence, there is a prepara- 
tory sentence which serves to lead up to the 
new topic of discussion, and which is known as 
a transitional sentence. It may be passed over 
quickly. Occasionally the topic sentence is reserved 
for the end of the paragraph. Nearly always the 
last sentence of a paragraph is important to 
the reader; it frequently contains a summary of 
the thought. To read by paragraphs, glance at the 
first short sentence or two in a paragraph. If this 
is sufficient skip the rest of it and go at once to 
the next paragraph. If the first or second sentence 
does not develop enough thought to carry you on, 



6o HOW TO STUDY 

glance at the last sentence. Of course, when occa- 
sion warrants, you will pause long enough to de- 
velop the topic still further by reading whatever 
intervening sentences are seen to bear vitally upon 
the subject. 

A still more rapid way to make a book yield up 

Where to j|-g ]^ernel of thought is to read only the first para- 
look for the , , 1 , . T , ^; . 
gist of a graph or two and the last m each chapter. Notice 

chapter. }^q^ [^ ^j^jg book the last paragraph sums up the 
thought in each chapter. 

We have now had the principles of rapid read- 
ing. They are as follows: 
Summary. I- In rapid reading do not halt over words one at a 

time or submit them to inward hearing. 

2. In reading by sentence units, regard especially 
the beginning and the end of sentences. The subject 
is usually near the beginning. 

J. In reading by paragraph units, give special 
attention to the first or second and the last sentences; 
here usually are found the topic and summary of the 
paragraph. 

4. In reading by chapter units, pay special atten- 
tion to the first and last paragraphs of the chapter. 
In the first the subject of the chapter is usually de- 
veloped; the last usually contains a summary or an 
important conclusion. 

5. Learn to use indexes and tables of contents to 
help in locating the material that you want. 

Let us apply the principle of rapid reading to 
one of Addison's Essays : 



WHEN AND HOW TO READ RAPIDLY 6i 

The Spectator on Exercise 

Ut sit mens sana in corpore sano. — Jxjvenal. 
A healthy body and a mind at ease. 

[i] Bodily labour is of two kinds, either that which a man 
submits to for his livehhood, or that which he undergoes for 
his pleasure. The latter of them generally changes the name 
of labour for that of exercise, but differs only from ordinary 
labour as it rises from another motive. 

[2] A country life abounds in both these kinds of labour, and 
for that reason gives a man a greater stock of health, and 
consequently a more perfect enjoyment of himself, than any 
other way of Hfe. I consider the body as a system of tubes 
and glands, or, to use a more rustic phrase, a bundle of pipes 
and strainers, fitted to one another after so wonderful a manner 
as to make a proper engine for the soul to work with. This 
description does not only comprehend the bowels, bones, ten- 
dons, veins, nerves, and arteries, but every muscle and every 
ligature, which is a composition of fibres that are so many im- 
perceptible tubes or pipes, interwoven on all sides with invisible 
glands or strainers. 

[3] This general idea of a human body, without considering 
it in its niceties of anatomy, lets us see how absolutely neces- 
sary labour is for the right preservation of it. There must be 
frequent motions and agitations, to mix, digest, and separate 
the juices contained in it, as well as to clear and cleanse that 
infinitude of pipes and strainers of which it is composed, and 
to give their solid parts a more firm and lasting tone. Labour 
or exercise ferments the humours, casts them into their proper 
channels, throws off redundancies, and helps nature in those 
secret distributions, without which the body cannot subsist in 
its vigour, nor the soul act with cheerfulness. 

[4] I might here mention the effects which this has upon all 
the faculties of the mind, by keeping the understanding clear, 
the imagination untroubled, and refining those spirits that are 
necessary for the proper exertion of our intellectual faculties, 
during the present laws of union betv^ en soul and body. It 
is to a neglect in this particular that we , ust ascribe the spleen, 



62 HOW TO STUDY 

which is so frequent in men of studious and sedentary tempers, 
as well as the vapours, to which those of the other sex are so 
often subject. 

[5] Had not exercise been absolutely necessary for our 
well-being, nature would not have made the body so proper for 
it, by giving such an activity to the limbs, and such a pliancy 
to every part as necessarily produce those compressions, exten- 
sions, contortions, dilatations, and all other kinds of motions 
that are necessary for the preservation of such a system of tubes 
and glands as has been before mentioned. And that we might 
not want inducements to engage us in such an exercise of the 
body as is proper for its welfare, it is so ordered that nothing 
valuable can be procured without it. Not to mention riches 
and honour, even food and raiment are not to be come at with- 
out the toil of the hands and sweat of the brows. Providence 
furnishes materials, but expects that we should work them up 
ourselves. The earth must be laboured before it gives its 
increase; and when it is forced into its several products, how 
many hands must they pass through before they are fit for 
use! Manufactures, trade, and agriculture naturally employ 
more than nineteen parts of the species in twenty; and as for 
those who are not obhged to labour, by the condition in which 
they are born, they are more miserable than the rest of man- 
kind, unless they indulge themselves in that voluntary labour 
which goes by the name of exercise. 

[6] My friend Sir Roger has been an indefatigable man in 
business of this kind, and has hung several parts of his house 
with the trophies of his former labours. The walls of his great 
hall are covered with the horns of several kinds of deer that he 
has killed in the chase, which he thinks the most valuable furni- 
ture of his house, as they afford him frequent topics of discourse 
and show that he has not been idle. At the lower end of the 
hall is a large otter's skin stuffed with hay, which his mother 
ordered to be hung up in that manner, and the knight looks 
upon it with great satisfaction, because it seems he was but 
nine years old when his dog killed him. A Uttle room adjoin- 
ing to the haU is a kinr of arsenal filled with guns of several 
sizes and inventions, /ith which the knight has made great 



WHEN AND HOW TO READ RAPIDLY 63 

havoc in the woods, and destroyed many thousand of pheas- 
ants, partridges, and woodcocks. His stable doors are patched 
with noses that belonged to foxes of the knight's own hunting 
down. Sir Roger showed me one of them that for distinction's 
sake has a brass nail struck through it, which cost him about 
fifteen hours' riding, carried him through half a dozen counties, 
killed him a brace of geldings, and lost above half his dogs. 
This the knight looks upon as one of the greatest exploits of 
his life. The perverse widow, whom I have given some 
account of, was the death of several foxes; for Sir Roger has 
told me that in the course of his amours he patched the western 
door of his stable. Whenever the widow was cruel, the foxes 
were sure to pay for it. In proportion as his passion for the 
widow abated, and old age came on, he left off fox-hunting; 
but a hare is not yet safe that sits within ten miles of his 
house. 

[^7] There is no kind of exercise which I would so recommend 
to my readers of both sexes as this of riding, as there is none 
which so much conduces to health, and is every way accommo- 
dated to the body, according to the idea which I have given of 
it. Dr. Sydenham is very lavish in its praises; and if the 
EngUsh reader will see the mechanical effects of it described 
at length, he may find them in a book published not many years 
since, under the title of Medicina Gymnastica. For my own 
part, when I am in town, for want of these opportunities, I 
exercise myself an hour every morning upon a dumb-bell that 
is placed in a corner of my room, and pleases me the more 
because it does everything I require of it in the most profound 
silence. My landlady and her daughters are so well acquainted 
with my hours of exercise, that they never come into my 
room to disturb me whilst I am ringing. 

[8] When I was some years younger than I am at present, 
I used to employ myself in a more laborious diversion, which 
I learned from a Latin treatise of exercises that is written with 
great erudition: it is there called the a-Kiofxaxia, or the 
fighting with a man's own shadow, and consists in the bran- 
dishing of two short sticks grasped in each hand, and loaden 
with plugs of lead at either end. This opens the chest, exer- 



64 HOW TO STUDY 

cises the limbs, and gives a man all the pleasure of boxing, 
without the blows. I could wish that several learned men 
Would lay out that time which they employ in controversies 
and disputes about nothing, in this method of fighting with 
their own shadows. It might conduce very much to evaporate 
the spleen, which makes them uneasy to the public as well as 
to themselves. 

To conclude, as I am a compound of soul and body, I con- 
sider myself as obliged to a double scheme of duties; and 
think I have not fulfilled the business of the day, when I do 
not thus employ the one in labour and exercise, as well as the 
other in study and contemplation. 

In the first place notice how large a part of the 
whole thought is contained in the first and last 
paragraphs. 

Now take the other paragraphs and see how 
much of the thought may be gleaned by a rapid 
reading that notices especially the beginning and 
the end of each paragraph and only enough words 
in the sentence to catch the author's meaning. 
Observe that the beginning and end of the sentence 
are usually important and that the semicolon must 
be treated as a period. Instead of periods vertical 
lines are used to indicate full stops. 

[2] A country hfe a more perfect enjoyment than 

any other | I consider the body system of tubes and 

glandsl interwoven on all sides with invisible glands or 

strainers] 

[[3] This general idea of a human body necessary labor 

is for the right preservation of it| — must be frequent motions 

to mix give sohd parts more firm and lasting tone] 

Labor or exercise ferments the humors, casts them into their 

proper channels without which body cannot subsist 

in its vigor, nor soul act with cheerfulness] 



WHEN AND HOW TO READ RAPIDLY 65 

[4] I might here mention effects mind, understanding 

clear 1 neglect spleen in men vapors of 

other sex 1 

[5] Had not exercise been absolutely necessary nature 

would not have made body so proper for it| And that 

we might not want inducements nothing valuable 

without itj riches, honor, food, raiment sweat of the 

brows| Providence furnishes materials work them up 

ourselves] The earth must be labored before fit for 

use| Manufactures, trade and agriculture employ nineteen 

parts of the species in twenty; those not obhged to labor 

miserable unless exercise | 

[63 My friend Sir Roger— — indefatigable in business of 

this kind, hung house with the trophies | walls 

horns — deer — show not been idle| otter's skin stuffed 

nine years old when dog killed himj Little room 

kind of arsenal guns destroyed many thousands of 

pheasants, partridges and woodcocks] His stable doors are 

patched with noses foxes | Sir Roger showed me one 

killed him a brace of geldings and lost above half his dogs| 

This one of the greatest exploits of his life] The perverse 

widow the death of several foxes]- — -patched western 

door of his stable] Whenever the widow was cruel the foxes 

paid ] In proportion as his passion for the widow abated 

left off fox hunting] but a hare is not yet safe 1 

[7] There is no kind of exercise I would so recommend 

as riding ] Dr. Sydenham is very lavish in its praises 

1 For my own part 1 exercise upon a dumb-bell 

1 My landlady and her daughters never disturb 

me whilst I am ringing] 

[8] When I younger a more laborious diversion] 

called fighting with a man's shadow brandishing 

of two short sticks plugs of lead at either end] This 

opens the chest, exercises the hmbs boxing without the 

blows] I could wish several learned men would this method 

of fighting with their own shadows] It might conduce very 
much to evaporate the spleen, which makes them uneasy to 
the pubhc as well as to themselves] 



66 HOW TO STUDY 

The Sir Roger sketch is purposely chosen as hav- 
ing greater difficulty than that of most narration; 
but you can follow the thought even here without 
seeing all the words. 

The pianist learns to read rapidly at sight four 

Sight read- qj- f^yg ji^es of notes representing soprano, alto, 
ing in music. , , ^ r i-i. i. 

tenor, and bass, or any two or more of these parts 

together with an accompaniment. Such a feat 
makes rapid reading that takes in a whole line of 
words at a glance seem comparatively easy. The 
task is accomplished by the musician in this way: 
the performer neglects some of the easier parts of 
counterpoint, especially those notes which the 
laws of harmony fix in comparatively settled posi- 
tions. At these he guesses in order to concentrate 
his attention upon the dominant theme. Just so 
the rapid reader of words must catch the dominant 
thought without reference to the repetitions and 
the relatively unimportant words and statements 
that may easily be guessed at. 

The power to read rapidly is of relatively little 

Rapid read- yalue to the young pupil ; but as he advances he 

St value to will find it of more and more assistance. In the 

advanced university the student will scarcely win distinction 

as a scholar without it. Practice in the art of 

rapid reading should begin in the high school. 



X. Stimulate Your Efforts with the Thought 
OF Competition 

Did you ever consider how much toil and hard- 
ship are endured for the sake of sport? How many Willing toil 

of sports- 
wesivy miles the fisherman tramps through brush men. 

and brake and swamp to cast his fly for trout? How 
the hunter rises before daybreak and stands or 
crouches all day behind his screen, regardless of 
wet and cold and hunger, waiting for a chance to 
shoot at a flock of ducks; or toils through Decem- 
ber snow up and down mountain sides to get a 
shot at a bear? 

Parents often wonder why the same boy who 
yesterday threw every ounce of his strength into the Football vs. 
football game, today can scarcely be induced to sift 
the ashes and attend to the furnace. It seems as 
if all useful activity were distasteful while all use- 
less activity were the height of pleasure. There is 
a reason for the seeming perversity: in the activity 
oj the hunter, the fisherman, the football player, in- 
stincts as old as the race are called into play, and 
these instincts are absent in the work of tending the 
furnace. 

You have noticed the power of habit to make that 

easy and even agreeable which was considered hard ^l^^ ^^" 

IT r ^ TTTi 1-1 1 stinct in at- 

and distastelul. When you were advised to have avistic pur- 

nxed hours of study and to plunge in when the ^uits and 

contests, 
study hour comes, you were advised to make use 



68 HOW TO STUDY 

of this law of our being. Now, race habits ^ which 
have been followed for ages by our ancestors have 
become instinctive in us; and all activity prompted 
by instinct is highly pleasurable. For countless 
ages men followed hunting and fishing as a means 
of livelihood. Their descendants now instinctively 
follow these occupations as pastime. For countless 
ages men fought in personal combat. Football 
is an expression of the old fighting spirit and it re- 
produces the sensations of battle. That is why 
boys like it so much. It is well that the instinct 
finds expression in play. G. Stanley Hall says that 
boys are less likely to fight in reality when this is 
the case. The fighting instinct is present in nearly 
all our games. Games take the form of contests; 
and the more closely they follow the elements of 
war, the more devoted their young followers are to 
them. Football, baseball, tennis, basketball, all 
embody the elements of a contest — the fight for 
supremacy. 

Nor is fighting confined to athletic contests. Con- 
Chess a war gi^er the hours of vigorous mental activity that are 
given to chess, checkers, and whist. Hard mental 
effort here becomes delightful. It is the contest 
that makes it so. Chess is decidedly a war game; in 
it superior strategy wins. Kings and bishops and 
knights engage in battle. The pawns are the 
common soldiers, as the name implies, and the 
castles are fortified places to be taken or lost in 

^ This is G. Stanley Hall's theory. Colvin and others 
object to it. But it seems to the author a reasonable explana- 
tion of the play instinct. 



THE STIMULUS OF COMPETITION 69 

the fight. So, too, games with checkers and with 
cards are contests of skill and strategy. 

When men were not fighting for supremacy they 
were struggling for existence. At first they strug- Competi- 
gled for food; afterward for place, for wealth, for lates. 
trade, for social esteem. Out of this world-old 
struggle the instinctive love of competition has 
come down to us as the basic principle in nearly 
all our play. It gives zest to work and to business. 
"Competition is the life of trade," as the saying 
goes. Our best efforts are made under rivalry. 
The athlete requires a rival to make the hundred in 
ten seconds. The " miler " must have a pacemaker 
to make his best time. The chess-player can give 
no such unflagging attention when planning moves 
alone as he gives when an opponent faces him. 

So the instincts to fight, to compete, to rival, to 
imitate — all of which are related — are powerful Playing the 
ones. Why not make use of these great stimulat- 
ing instincts to further yourself in your studies — 
especially in those studies which you find hard and 
dry? It can be done to the student's advantage 
if he plays the game in the right spirit. If rivalry 
with another member of the class develops hatred 
or even unfriendliness, then it is not done in the 
right spirit. In that case rather let the rivalry cease. 
Good-will and friendship are greater things than 
scholarship. But I believe that there may be 
friendly rivalry — rivalry which forbids your gloat- 
ing over your opponent's mistakes or misfortunes, 
and bids you be glad when the competitor compels 
you to exert yourself. Such rivalry does not make 



70 



HOW TO STUDY 



Healthy 
rivalry in 
school 
sports. 



The pace- 
maker. 



Competing 

with 

Bogey. 



a competitor bitter when his rival gains the advan- 
tage, or overbearing when that rival is surpassed. 

Our school sports are developing just such big- 
hearted rivalry as that. Why should not our work 
develop it? Young men are still friends after 
opposing each other to the limit in the games; 
just as lawyers on opposite sides struggle to win, 
each at the expense of the other, but when the 
case is settled they are good friends still. Probably 
in the vigorous atmosphere of strenuous competition 
not only is the best work done, but also the best and 
strongest character is developed. We have thought 
so on the playground; there is no reason for think- 
ing otherwise in the class-room. 

It is easy to develop a spirit of competition in 
study. Others all around you are performing the 
same tasks. Every recitation is a chance for you 
to match your ability with theirs. Every report- 
card is graded by competitive standards that make 
it possible for you to measure swords intellectually 
with your classmates and to know who wins. Pick 
out a classmate who is doing a little better than 
you in the same studies, use him as a pacemaker, 
and see if you cannot equal or even surpass him. 

I believe it is possible for students to compete 
for love of the game without sacrificing friendship. 
But if after considerable trial you find it is not 
so, if you find your nature is such that even with an 
effort of will you cannot compete with another 
student without bitterness, then abandon all thought 
of such rivalry. Compete with yourself, with what 
the golfers call Bogey. Compare your efforts day 



THE STIMULUS OF COMPETITION 



71 



after day. Plot a curve to show your progress. 
How long does it take you to translate ten lines 
today, how long tomorrow, how long day after day? 
See if your curve will show a record of improvement 
like this of a Virgil student : 

40 

35 

30 

25 
1 20 
= 15 
^10 

There is another excellent way to increase your 
attention in class while you give battle to Bogey. 
Keep tab of all questions asked in a recitation. 
Answer each to yourself. Put down a one for each 
that you get right and a zero for each you have 
wrong. Mark yourself after class on the scale of 
100%. Plot a curve to show your progress from 
day to day. Try to beat Bogey in this way. See if 
your curve will go upward. Here is the curve made 
by a history student who tried this method for 
twenty days: 



Days 
1 2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


8 


9 


10 


11 


12 


13 


14 


in 


IG 


17 


IS 


10 


20 


y 


y- 


^ 










>^ 
































^ 




■^ 


^ 











•^ 


^w 


^ 






..^^^ 






/ 






































^^ 





























































































































Days 
1 2 


3 


4 


5 


G 


7 


8 


9 


10 


11 


12 


13 


14 


15 


IG 


17 


18 


19 


20 


00% 






































^ 




yo % 
















/s 




^ 




y^ 


^^ 






^^ 


y 






N. 








8054 


^ 






' 






^ 




>sy 






























'<0% 










































G0% 










































b0% 











































72 HOW TO STUDY 

In order to put the zest of play into dry, hard work 
Summary, ^^^j stimulate your best endeavor, make a game of it. 
This you can do by putting behind it the instinctive 
love of contest. 

Endeavor to compete in recitation and grades with 
some member of the class who is usually of somewhat 
higher standing than yourself. 

Be careful in such emulation that it does not develop 
into ill feeling. 

Try also to compete with Bogey, and to this end keep 
curves of your efficiency in study and recitation. 

By these means you will be carried through dry, 
hard work without ennui and with a maximum of 
efficiency. 



XI. Conserve Your Energies for Study 

Study is or should be work; usually for students 
of high school age it is hard work. It requires fatigue 

1 ?r • 1 . ' ^ 1 fatal to 

energy to study effectively, just as it does to do any effective 
sort of work. There is fatigue of mind as well as study, 
fatigue of body; and in one way their effect is 
similar. While the expenditure of hard muscular 
energy for long hours day after day soon makes 
a man thin, mental work does not so quickly reduce 
the weight, but nevertheless both forms of fatigue 
make study ineffective. It is important to know 
that there is no permanent impression upon a mind 
fatigued. 

Bodily fatigue is as fatal to effective study as 
is mental fatigue. The brain shares the fatigue of Fatigue due 
other members of the body. The lactic acid and action, 
acid potassium phosphate which are formed in the 
body by fatigue overflow from the wearied muscles 
and pass with the blood to all parts of the system. 
If some of the blood of a tired horse is injected into 
the veins of a fresh one, the latter will exhibit the 
same symptoms of fatigue as the former. 

In physical exhaustion it is the body, particularly 

the part subjected to strain, that seems most w^eary. Muscular 
o • 1 • 11., activity 

Sometimes, however, serious mental disturbances does not 

result from bodily fatigue. In any event, effec- rest the 

tive study is as impossible in a state of physical 

exhaustion as it is in a state of mental exhaustion. 

It follows from what has been said that it does not 



74 HOW TO STUDY 

rest the mind to engage in violent physical activity. 

There is a common misconception on this point. A 

moderate amount of exercise is absolutely requisite 

to good health. But the best remedy for mental 

fatigue is rest of both mind and body; and 'the 

poorest preparation for an evening of hard study is 

an afternoon of exercise so violent that it leaves one 

physically exhausted. 

Hard physical work and hard mental work cannot 

The unduly j^^ done in the same twenty-four hours except by 

"strenuous ,. „. . ^ ^ 

life." very extraordmary men. i he persistent attempt to 

lead a strenuous life in both these directions accounts 
for many a breakdown. Nervous prostration, of 
which staleness and overtraining are preliminary 
symptoms, is brought on quite as much by phys- 
ical exhaustion as by too much mental strain. Of 
course, lack of ambition and man's inherent tend- 
ency to sloth keep nine-tenths of the young men 
from danger of overwork in either direction. In the 
case of the ambitious athlete, what usually happens 
is that physical weariness easily puts him to sleep 
over his books. Remember this, that as a rule the 
expenditure of great physical energy precludes the 
effective expenditure of mental energy in the same 
day. The rare exceptions only prove the rule. It 
is true that some few men are possessed of wonder- 
ful recuperative ability. They will be found to be 
huge eaters, whose powers of digestion and elimina- 
tion are so great that they easily repair the w^aste 
in both brain and body, and permit large expendi- 
ture of energy through long hours. The average 
man cannot so eat or so digest. 



STUDY AND FATIGUE 75 

Where great mental energy is demanded, phys- 
ical repose will be found advisable. Probably the Great men- 
,. , ^ , . , . _ tal activity 
greatest display of mental power is the creative work aided by 

of authors. A group of New England authors Physical re- 
founded Brook Farm, thinking that they could be 
tillers of the soil and authors at the same time. 
But it is said that they found the expenditure of 
muscular energy in long hours of toil incompatible 
with a large output of creative brain work. Mark 
Twain went to bed to compose. Here his body was 
in a position of complete relaxation and allowed a 
maximum of energy to be employed in creative 
effort. A great French author also composed in a 
recumbent position. In a novel of Arnold Bennett's, 
called TJie Great Man, the hero is an author who dis- 
covers his talent as a writer while in bed convales- 
cing from a mild case of measles. 

Let not the young student gather from the few 

examples of genius here given that he is to abstain ^f ^"? ^f 
r 1-1 . ^ 1 1 , • physical ex- 

irom physical exercise. On the contrary, let him ercise. 

develop his physical powers to the full. It has 

been found that high marks in school go with lung 

capacity. Certainly broad shoulders and a strong 

physique are best adapted to bear the prolonged 

strain often necessary in business and professional 

life. Let the student acquire all he can of both 

physical and mental strength, in the years of growth 

and adjustment. But let him remember that to 

secure a maximum of power in either direction he 

must stop short of fatigue. 

It is obvious that the student should not neglect 

his physical nature. Perhaps there is more danger 



76 



HOW TO STUDY 



Danger in Qf g^^^j^ neglect than there is of too violent activity. 

scrimmages. To keep the mind fresh, a certain amount of healthy- 
play is of great importance ; but long scrimmages 
at football and basketball, that leave the muscles 
trembling on the verge of complete exhaustion, are 
altogether fatal to good scholarship. Mountain 
climbers who have exhausted their energies in the 
ascent cannot get an interesting mental picture at 
the top, and are sometimes unable to remember the 
view for which they had toiled so hard. Boys 
who come to their studies in the evening utterly 
tired out will be unable the next morning to remem- 
ber anything they studied the night before. 

Mental fatigue from hard study comes sooner 
in high school years than in college. It is not 
always easy to detect mental fatigue. There is wide 
difference in its effect on different minds, and 
pathological conditions are not infrequent. The 
more usual symptoms of mental fatigue are (i) a 
falling off in the quality of the work, owing to the 
greater number of mistakes made, (2) a falling off 
in the quantity of work done in a given time, and 
(3) a greater tendency to be distracted, that is to 
say, more difficulty in holding attention on the work 
in hand. With mental fatigue there come first 
indifference and a disinclination to work; then 
come languor and a craving for sleep. Headache 
and restlessness follow. Then come excitement and 
heightened sensitiveness, especially to noises; ner- 
vousness, irritability, with passionate outbreaks and 
hysteria are the last symptoms. It sometimes 
requires months to recover from such a state. 



Signs of 

mental 

fatigue. 



STUDY AND FATIGUE 77 

Students who do not conserve their energies for 

study, who spend too much time in social Hfe from Those who 

1 : 1 . , . . , . . break down, 

day to day, m novel readmg, and m outside activi- 
ties are tempted to overwork at examination time 
and may be forced to leave college from exhaustion, 
while steady and really harder w^orkers continue to 
progress. 

The first symptoms of mental fatigue are hard 

to detect. Often a feeling of weariness is present Mental 

1 . r • rr^i • 1 fatigue not 

where there is no fatigue. This soon passes when always ap- 

one settles down to work. On the other hand, over- pa-rent. 
work sometimes causes mental exhilaration and 
vividness of ideas to the over-stimulated brain. It 
will be much better to judge of mental fatigue by 
the time spent in work than by your own feelings. 
When actual nervous exhaustion comes, it is very 
difficult to get back to form; but five or ten minutes 
of complete rest introduced into the work every 
forty or fifty minutes will guard against such ex- 
haustion and keep the mind fresh for vivid impres- 
sions. Such periodical rests will prove time-savers 
in the end. 

This period of rest should not be a change of 

work. There is stimulation in change of work that ^ change of 

. , occupation 

serves to keep one going; but change of occupation is not a rest. 

is not rest. A short walk of five or ten minutes 

will prove restful; but when the work is especially 

difficult, perhaps the most helpful aid is a period 

of complete relaxation of mind and body. 

If you desire to do your school work with a maxi- Effect of 

mum of ease and efficiency you will avoid the use adokscen^ts 

of stimulants and narcotics. Especially should 



78 HOW TO STUDY 

you beware of coffee and tobacco in the high school 
years. During this period of rapid growth the 
heart is Hable to weakness and irregularity. All its 
power is needed to force the blood into new tissue 
and capillaries. The work that nature demands 
of it at this time seems almost to overtax it. To- 
bacco weakens the heart and puts an added strain 
on it. It thus robs the system of vitality, increases 
inactivity and laziness, and gives the face an ashen 
and unhealthy look. 

Investigations in a number of schools and colleges 
^^ct on have shown that smokers lose from ten to fifteen 
per cent of efficiency. Boys of only ordinary ability 
usually become failures when they take up the 
habit of smoking. Some think that the smoker's 
poor showing is due not to the narcotic, but to a 
general deterioration of character of which the smok- 
ing, like the low grades, is a symptom, not a cause. 
This might hold true were it not that students who 
smoke openly at home with the full consent of 
parents and without thought of wrongdoing are 
almost as badly affected by the habit as are the 
conscious recreants. The grades of these, just 
as of the other young smokers, fall off upon con- 
tracting the habit and rise upon breaking it. 
Coffee is a stimulant. Under its immediate 

Effect of effect students can keep on working when fatigued, 
caffeine. -r^ . , • i • i 

For that very reason the stimulant is dangerous. 

Like tobacco, it taxes the heart. It usually affects 

the stomach and liver injuriously, and soon takes 

away healthy tone. While the immediate effect 

is to stimulate the cerebrum, increasing the reason- 



STUDY AND FATIGUE 79 

ing powers and the imagination, the ultimate effect 
of caffeine is to deaden the mind. No athlete can 
keep in condition on coffee and tobacco. Neither 
can the young student. Growing youths especially 
should abjure tea, coffee, and tobacco. 

Very much can be done to conserve your energies 
for study by watching the diet. Eat your hearty Thestu- 
meal when you can have an hour or more of rest ^^^^'^ ^^^" 
following it. The system needs at least one hearty 
meal a day and it requires energy to digest it. You 
have noticed how in the case of sickness the phy- 
sician orders abstention from all hearty foods and 
prescribes a diet of broth, milk, or thin gruel. He 
knows that the system must have strength and 
energy with which to throw off the disease and 
recuperate, and that this energy should not be used 
up in digesting food. Besides, the patient often 
lacks strength to digest the hearty food. When you 
want energy for other work, lessen your demands 
on the stomach. Those who eat a hearty midday 
meal should not begin work again before two 
o'clock in the afternoon. If you wish energy for 
study in the middle of the day, you must avoid a 
hearty lunch. 

Most people find it difficult to do mental work 
after eating beef. Rare beef requires less energy Effect of 
for its digestion than that which is thoroughly Joo£!^ 
cooked; lamb and mutton require less than veal, 
pork, or beef. Fish is regarded as particularly good 
for brain workers because it is so easily digested. 
"The digestibility of food," says Hutchison, ''is 
of far greater concern to a brain worker than its 



8o HOW TO STUDY 

chemical composition." The practice of overeat- 
ing, or gluttony, produces weariness similar to 
actual fatigue. Such weariness comes from uric 
poisoning, the effect of which is incapacity for 
mental work. 

Here are some health hints that will add to your 
happiness and efficiency as a student. 
How to keep j^ £^^ slowly of the foods that agree with 
you — sparingly before heavy exercise, study, or 
recitation, very sparingly when overtired or ex- 
cited. 

2. Drink a glass of water on rising and on retir- 
ing, and plentifully between meals. 

3. Breathe deeply before an open window for five 
or ten minutes on rising and on retiring, and venti- 
late your room both night and day. 

4. Exercise regularly and enjoy it to the full. 
Warm up gradually and finish quietly, stopping 
short of fatigue. 

5. Bathe after moderate exercise. Begin with 
warm water and end with a dash of cool. Apply 
the coarse towel vigorously. 

6. Sleep regularly, at least eight hours in twenty- 
four. When nervously tired and unable to sleep, 
take a warm bath before retiring. 

7. Rest at proper intervals the mind as well as 
the body. The amount of rest needed varies with 
age and with strength as well as with the difficulty 
of the work. Most freshmen in high school need 
to relax for five or ten minutes after a half hour 
of strained attention. Most college students need 
to relax after an hour. 



STUDY AND FATIGUE 8i 

Stop short of fatigue, for there is no impression upon Summary. 
a miftd fatigued. 

Take intervals of at least ten minutes for rest in every 
hour, and especially after finishing a lesson or unit 
of study. 

Do not try to study when the body is fatigued or after 
a hearty meal. 

Avoid stimulants and narcotics. 

If you would give yourself to elective study, avoid too 
frequent social functions of an exciting character. 

And finally, regulate your diet so that it will give a 
maximum of energy when you need it. 



PART II 
WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 

"For they [studies] teach not their own use." 

— FRANCIS BACON 



FOREWORD TO PART II 

A generation or two ago students in academies, 
high schools, and colleges had very little choice as 
to what they studied. The course was limited ; 
Latin, Greek, and mathematics comprised a large 
part of the curriculum. In four years' time students 
graduated because they had completed about all 
the work the school or college had to offer them. 
In the present generation it would take more than a 
lifetime to complete all the work offered in one of 
the great universities; it would require at least ten 
years to complete the work offered in a modern 
high school. 

From the great number of studies offered, the 
elective system becomes a necessity. You must 
choose a course from many alternatives, and to 
choose wisely you should have in advance a general 
knowledge of the subject-matter in each study and 
should know what value it offers you. 

When every student was carrying exactly the 
same studies, no one was haunted by the fear that 
he had not chosen the right course. As it is today, 
John Jones, who has elected Latin, sees that Will 
Smith is taking no Latin at all; and he begins to 
doubt its value for himself, especially when he sees 
that Smith's mechanical drawing is much easier than 
Latin. So students are tempted to drift from one 
subject to another, taking a smattering of this and 



86 WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 

a smattering of that, and getting no strong grasp 
of anything. 

A few hints as to the value of various subjects 
are given in the following pages in the hope that 
they may guide you in arriving at a reasonable 
choice of studies, or strengthen your purpose when 
a choice has already been made. In connection 
with the discussion of some subjects there are also 
brief suggestions as to proper methods of studying 
in order to secure the best results. 



WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 

I. Why Study History? 

"Histories make men wise." 

That it is greatly to the advantage of man for his 
brain to be highly developed is more than a mere fj[g^^"^f^j^^ 
truism. It is this development that enables him to ence of 
add to his knowledge through the medium of words others, 
and even from the printed page. Other people can 
help him by their advice. He can thus guide his 
conduct by ideas and principles that come to him 
bnverified by his ovm senses. In short, he can profit 
uy the experience of others. All education is based 
upon this fact. 

From their earliest years children refrain from 
doing what they learn to be harmful, and do that ^ ^j^^^^" 
which they learn is pleasurable. Without such re- 
fraining and such acting they could not preserve their 
lives. They hear of some one who got in front of a 
street car, was run over, and killed or badly injured. 
They avoid the danger of street cars. They hear 
of some one who died from eating toadstools; and 
in consequence they avoid the poisonous mushroom. 
Some one says that thorn apples and the fruit of 
mandrakes are good to eat; and the child goes 
into the woods to find these wild fruits. 

In the more complex situations of later life, — 
situations that involve proper social conduct, — ^^ youth. 



88 WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 

we constantly hear young people making over the 
experiences of others into guide lines for themselves. 

"Jennie did thus and so; and see what happened 
in her case." 

"William tried to do some impossible thing, and 
had his trouble for his pains." 

"It was thus that John made a fool of himself." 

"Everyone is talking about Henry and how 
splendid he is; in such and such a situation he 
acted in this commendable way." 

And from all these experiences of others, judg- 
ments are made and principles of conduct are formed 
that guide the youth into wiser behavior and enable 
him to shun folly and misfortune. 

History is largely the study of behavior. From 

History en- j^-g pages the student can learn how men down the 

to profit ages have conducted themselves in the complex and 

from the trying situations that have arisen. The test of 
experience . ; , . i • . • 

of nations time has passed a juster sentence upon their actions 

and of indi- ^j^^n can be passed upon the transient conduct of 
viduals. , , , . 1 1 r 1 1 <• • • 

the student s associates; and the iield oi action is 

vastly enlarged. From history the teachable youth 

cannot help gathering wisdom to guide his own 

conduct in similar situations that arise as history 

repeats itself in various Hnes of behavior. For 

instance, it is hard to imagine a historical-minded 

man who would bolt and run in battle. He knows 

too well the consequences of such action. And, 

besides, nobler ideas have been set before him — 

ideas that consciously or unconsciously must rule 

his conduct. Treachery would be as impossible 

as uncontrolled cowardice. It is of no consequence 



HISTORY 89 

whether he recalls specific instances of either from 
his history. The facts may have been forgotten 
so far as conscious memory is concerned. But they 
remain, subconsciously, if not consciously, the 
basis for everyday judgments and decisions as to 
personal conduct. 

On the historian's page moral conduct, espe- 
cially, is seen put to the test ; and its results are ^^^ history 
1 1 r 1 1 TT ,1 1 imparts wis- 

spread beiore the student. Here sloth, cruelty, dom as to 

treachery, and cowardice reap their rewards. The right per- 
-. - ,, .. .-,, sonal con- 

kmg who could not forgive an enemy or wm back duct. 

a lost friend, gets himself beheaded at the last; 

the pleasure-loving prince loses his kingdom ; and the 

cruel tyrant gets his return in hate, and falls by the 

avenger's knife. The pages of history contain 

examples also of the deeds of the good and the true. 

The courageous Leonidas by his own devoted death 

teaches victorious heroism to the Greeks; Peter 

the Great studies the arts of other kingdoms to 

apply them to his own; the persistent Washington, 

tireless and hopeful to the last, finally wrings victory 

from defeat. 

Men are gregarious; like bees and ants, they live 
and work together. The success of the race is 
largely due to cooperation in industry, in govern- 
ment, in education, in effort of various kinds. All 
history enforces this truth. 

All the social, political, religious, and economic 

institutions of the present day have grown out of ^^}^ fP?^^] 
, ^ - - ^ ,1 , and political 

the past; and unless we know the past, or at least conduct. 

know something of the origin and development 

of these institutions, we cannot fully understand 



go WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 

them. The relations of one country with another, 
or the situation existing at any time between na- 
tions, w^hether of war or peace, cannot be appre- 
ciated or even understood except by one acquainted 
with the history of nations. The probable effect 
of any political movement or legislative measure 
at home can be known only by the statesman who 
is acquainted with the historical bias of his people. 
Such a one will know in advance how a measure may 
be regarded both at home and abroad; and what 
means or arguments must be applied to carry and 
enforce it. We see in Burke how greatly a knowl- 
edge of history may help a statesman. He saw 
how to avert the American Revolution. His speech 
on Conciliation has done more to keep the British 
Empire together since the American War than 
England's armies and warships have done. 

Historical study is especially valuable in a self- 
Value of his- governinff republic like ours, in which every man 
toncal study & ^ i , , . 

to the prac- must be to some extent a statesman, able to lorm 

tical re- rational judgments on public matters. To the man 
former. . , i . . i , i ■, ti i 

with no historical background, events seem like the 

working of blind chance. The student of history 
alone sees reasons for what happens, and he alone 
is able intelligently to put his shoulder to the wheel 
of progress and help to move it in desirable direc- 
tions. By reason of historical study he can become 
a more effective social worker and reformer. His- 
tory makes for social efficiency and for wisdom in 
its broad sense. 

There are usually four years of history offered in 
high schools. Ancient history comes first; then 



HISTORY 91 

medieval and modern history, the second year; Advice as to 
^,•11. 1 1-1 1 A • 1 . what course 

Enghsh history, the third; and American history in history to 

and civics, the fourth. Suppose a student has but choose when 

1 . . 1 • 1 1 ' 1 1 ^^^ ^^^ or 

a nmited time to devote to history and must choose two years' 

one or two courses only, what should he choose? ^pf^ ^^ P°^" 

sible. 

If college is to follow the preparatory course, prob- 
ably history in the high school should be taken up 
in chronological order, with ancient history given 
the preference when only a year's work is done. 
College work can fill up the gap. When a classical 
course is followed, ancient history should be taken 
early in the course. It will give meaning and interest 
to the Latin and Greek. 

If college is not to follow high school, then first 
importance should be assigned to American history 
and civics in the senior year. If two years can be 
devoted to this study, let the second choice be 
European history, to precede the study of American 
history. 

How TO Study History 

First recall what you learned in the previous 

assignment. Then run over the title and subtitles The value of 
r 1 • 1 Tr T prehmmary 

of the topic you are about to study. If an outline reflection 

of the topic is given in the table of contents, read ^^^"^ recall. 

it. Reflect to see if the titles and subtitles suggest 

answers to problems that came up in previous study, 

or to questions that occur to you now. See if you 

can recall ever having read anything on the subject. 

A few minutes spent in this preparatory work will 

do two things for you: (i) it will warm you up to 

the work by getting your brain cells active and 



92 



WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 



whetting your curiosity and interest; and (2) it 
will enable you to grasp and retain what you read 
by associating the new ideas with the old. 

Now read on through the whole assignment to 
Studying by g^i ^ complete outline of the topic. Do not stop 
before the end. You will thus link causes, results, 
likenesses, contrasts — whatever relations may exist; 
and in filling in the details later you will be able 
to appreciate the true value and significance of 
each detail because you see each in the light of the 
1 whole. This continuous reading will enable you 
(i) to get the connections and hence to remember 
the lesson better, and (2) to understand and appre- 
ciate the details. 

In the second reading stop to recall from para- 
Recalling as graph to paragraph, and to reflect upon the thought 
and outlin- conveyed, the events narrated, and the characters 
i^S- portrayed, passing your judgment on the conduct 

of the historical actors. Finally, make an outline 
or synopsis of the history lesson, grouping lesser 
details under the more important headings which 
they support. Run over this outline with your eye 
at a later time, perhaps just before going to class, 
and fill in by recalling in greater detail what is here 
only suggested. Visualize the outline. 



II. Why Study Latin? ^ 

Latin has great value as a help in the develop- 
ment of an English vocabulary. A large part of ^^tin in- 

. creases tne 

our English vocabulary comes from Latm either power to 

directly or indirectly through the medium of Nor- ^^^^ ^^^ , ' 
•' 1 . 1 r understand 

man-French. The Latm words of our language are English. 

longer and more unusual than the Anglo-Saxon. 
Such words are valuable for the expression of more 
subtle and difhcult thought, because, being less 
used, they are of narrower and more exact mean- 
ing. The study of Latin is thus a roundabout 
method of learning to read difficult English. 

The practice of translating from Latin into English 

is a direct method of learning to write and speak Translation 

. . . . . , may be a 

English. It IS the only trammg m composition that good form 

the great English writers received. Only recently °^ English 

... • • 1 1-1 IT composition, 

has English composition been taught in the public 

schools of England. The practice of translating 

gives accuracy and skill in the choice of words. To 

select from a half-dozen meanings and synonyms the 

right English equivalent for a Latin word requires 

a study of words in their nice shades of meaning, 

and such study proves of immense value to those 

who become writers or speakers. Thus Latin helps 

the student to acquire a larger English vocabulary 

and a more accurate and discriminating use of 

words. 

1 About the best brief for Latin that has appeared in recent 
years is that of H. Rushton Fairclough, "The Practical Bear- 
ing of Latin," Classical Journal, December, 1914. 



94 WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 

A knowledge of this language is of advantage in 

Latin help- several other directions. It helps in acquiring 

ing, modern modern languages, more particularly French, Spanish, 

languages, ^^d Italian, which are derived from it. It is a de- 

and m his- . , , , , . 

torical in- cided help m the spellmg of many English words 

terpretation. ^f Latin origin. Such blunders as come from con- 
fusing ible and able or from writing discnhe for 
c?e5cribe are'Vot likely to be made by Latin scholars. 
Finally, Latin gives a clearer understanding and 
appreciation of the history and civilization of the 
Roman people. Its value will readily be perceived 
when we come to know that only by contrast and 
comparison with the ancient civilizations, we can 
really see and understand the significant things in 
modern life. 

How TO Study Latin 

To learn Latin requires in the first year or two 
a great deal of memory drill. The learning of forms 
and paradigms and the building up of a vocabulary 
necessitate a great deal of repetition. Here are a 
few rules which apply to drill work. 

Principles of Drill 

1. Distribute repetitions over several short sittings rather 
than one long one. 

2. Repeat in rhythm, as in the synoptical verb endings: 

bam bo 

i eram era 

(Most forms and rules can be rhythmically chanted). 

3. Stop short of fatigue; and cease all activity for five or 
ten minutes after completing an assignment, lest the new 
work inhibit fixing the old. 

4. Practice at increasing intervals. 



LATIN 95 

5. Go slowly at first to avoid mistakes. Every mistake in 
recall lengthens the time required to memorize. 

6. Memorize by wholes rather than by sections to establish 
all the associations; but go back to special difficulties. 

7. Establish all possible connections. 

a. Recall your English grammar for comparison. 

h. Recall EngUsh derivatives in learning vocabularies. 

8. Study aloud or with lips moving. 

9. Use multiple imagery; i.e., write the forms, say the forms, 
and see the forms which you are memorizing. 

Besides the drill work of the first year or two 
there will be much translating to be done from Latin j^^^. ^^^^ ^^ 
authors. Caesar, Cicero, and Virgil, perhaps also Uteraltrans- 
Nepos and Ovid, will be read in the secondary lations. 
school. Here let us post a warning. Students are 
sometimes tempted to make use of literal transla- 
tions in the preparation of their work. Avoid this 
error. Discontinue the study if you are unwilling 
to do the work necessary to translate for yourself. 
The "cribber" is doomed to early failure in the 
study of Latin. 

Notwithstanding what has been said of the folly 
of usin? literal translations, the use of a free trans- Proper use 

1 • 1 r • • r 1-1 r of frCe 

lation — such, for mstance, as is found m that set of translations, 
the classics published by Vincent Parke and Com- 
pany — may be of much value. If you will read 
rapidly a free and spirited translation of Caesar, 
Cicero, or Virgil in the summer vacation previous 
to the study of the author, you will increase your 
interest, understanding, and power. 

Before beginniner an assignment of translation, Method of 
„ 1 , , ^ , . workmpre- 

recall the thought of the previous passage; next paring an 

translate at sight to get the general drift of the assignment. 



96 WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 

author's thought. Now go back and look up the 
new words, testing for accuracy by judging whether 
the sentence makes good sense itself and is con- 
sistent with other sentences. As a final preparation, 
translate the whole passage aloud. Learn the 
common words thoroughly to avoid waste of time 
in turning to the vocabulary. Keep up a systematic 
study of grammar to get a connected view of the 
whole subject. 



III. Why Study English? 

Under the head English are usually grouped as 

many as five different related subjects. They are Variety of 

•^ , . , , work under 

English literature, composition, grammar, rhetoric, heading of 

and spelling. To these are often added oral read- E^nghsh. 

ing and public speaking. Thus the question, "Why 

study English?" becomes complicated. Let us 

first ask — 

Why Study English Literature? 

This very question has been asked of me more 

than once by hard-headed students who can find no ^^^ artistic 

... . ' . . , 1 . , 1 rr^, element in 

utility m the artistic and purely ideal. There are literature 

persons who are tone deaf, and consequently unable cannot be 

,. . . 1 . , . appreciated 

to distinguish a note at one pitch from a note at equally by 

another. To these, music is only noise. There ^^^• 
are also persons who cannot distinguish one color 
from another. We call them color-blind; and we 
expect from them little appreciation of the work of 
great painters. Through some unaccountable de- 
fect there are those also who have no appreciation 
of the artistic in literature. There are people who 
do not like poetry of any kind and who never will 
like it. Artistic expression, conveying to most 
minds the delightful subtleties of rhythm, mood, and 
happily chosen words, conveys nothing but bald fact 
to them. They cannot see the utility of literature. 
Happily these unfortunate ones are very few. In 
every course in literature the great majority of Ethical in- 
students find new springs of delight and need no literature, 
further reason for studying it. Such pure pleasure 



98 



WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 



is its own excuse for being. It is the poet's function 
to make beautiful the good, the heroic, the ideally- 
true — to make them desirable to visions less 
inspired than his. Literature thus ennobles life. 
Nowhere in the school course can the old Latin 
proverb be quoted with more confidence of its truth: 
Studia aheunt in mores (Studies pass over into 
character) . 

Novel reading, if too much time is given to it, 
Good novels j^^g^y become a vice. But in general the good novels 
are highly valuable. They give a better under- 
standing of human nature, engender higher ideals, 
and, like history, afford a study of human behavior 
that becomes the subconscious basis of wiser personal 
conduct. Good novels employing the sterling w^ords 
of everyday life are especially helpful in improving 
the student's own use of English. Foreign-born stu- 
dents from homes where no English is spoken often 
acquire style and vocabulary from the good authors 
that they read in school; and as a result they speak 
polished English. Observant teachers of English 
composition can nearly always see in their students' 
themes the good effect of some English author that 
is being studied and imitated at the time. 



of human 
behavior, 
and effec- 
tive models 
of expres- 
sion. 



Tendency 
to imitate 
the speech 
of those 
about us. 



Why Study English Grammar? 

In forming habits of speech imitation, as a rule, 
is more powerful than precept. With ease we fall 
into the use of the language of those about us; 
with difficulty we correct our speech through con- 
scious study and effort. If those about us use good 
English, we use good English. If their English is 



ENGLISH 99 

faulty, so will ours be faulty. It often happens 
that a person with incorrect habits of speech changes 
his place of living, falls in with cultivated people, 
gradually discards the solecisms and crudities of 
his earlier practice, and adopts a manner of speech 
like that of his new associates. If he returns to the 
home of his childhood, he quickly falls back into 
the old mistakes of grammar. 

One advantage of grammar study is that it frees 
the student to a considerable extent from the in- Grammar 
fluence of the incorrect speech habits of his associ- more reli- 
ates. Many people try to test their grammar by ^^^^ ^^^^ ^°^ 
"the way it sounds to them." Of course this is an speech, 
adequate test if they are in the habit of hearing and 
speaking only correct English. But to the person 
who hears only "It is me," the correct form, "It is 
/," sounds wrong. In many ears, "You do that 
good'' sounds more natural and better than "You 
do that well.'' A study of grammar gives fixed rules 
with which to test one's speech at any time, inde- 
pendently of habit or environment. 

Incorrect grammar, like incorrect spelling, is Poor gram- 
always taken as a badge of inferiority. In these mar and 
days of free and universal education, a man or often re- 
woman who has never taken pains to acquire correct garbed as 
1 1 IT • 1 Til badges of 

speech and spellmg is set down as little above a inferiority. 

defective. 

A good knowledge of English grammar is an ex- 
cellent preparation for the study of any foreign 
language. Grammar is a science with universal laws. 

Every language must have its direct object, its study of 

1 . , . . . , . . , foreign lan- 

predicate noun or adjective, its phrases, participles, guages 



lOO 



WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 



Grammar 
leads to 
thought 
analysis and 
helps in the 
use of punc- 
tuation. 



Summary. 



infinitives, and its dependent clauses, expressing 
various subordinate relations as in English, v It is 
far easier to learn a foreign language if you have 
thoroughly mastered English grammar. 

The study of grammar includes practice in 
analyzing English sentences. Analysis is a sure 
help to the reader in getting the thought from 
difficult passages. The thought can- scarcely es- 
cape a reader who has learned to see quickly the 
substantive subject, the verb, and predicate of a 
sentence, and to discern the subordinate elements, 
either grouped as phrases and clauses, or modifying 
singly as adjectives and adverbs. Punctuation, 
too, becomes a valuable aid to the reader who 
knows grammar; and it is equally valuable to the 
writer. 

Thus we see that the too frequently neglected 
subject of English grammar is really vital to the 
interests of every student. By it he is enabled 
(i) to make a better impression and to express 
himself more clearly; (2) to see more clearly the 
relations within the sentences he reads, and so 
more readily understand the thought; (3) to acquire 
a knowledge of the universal science of grammar 
so that he can, if occasion arises, learn a foreign 
language with comparative ease. 

Why Study Composition and Rhetoric? 

Composition and rhetoric include the practice and 
theory of writing effective English. Only a very 
few of the students in high school will ever make 
a living as authors; but all will find these studies 



ENGLISH loi 

useful. They will add to the student's personal 
satisfaction, enable him to add to the pleasure of 
others, and increase his social and business efficiency, 
no matter what vocation he may follow. 

No one can appreciate art so fully as he who has 
handled the artist's brush himself. No one can '^^^^g^'j^^p'g. 
enjoy music so much as the one who has himself elation and 
learned to play some instrument or to sing. Simi- [j!^^'^J^^gj._ 
larly, in regard to literature, if you are to get a else of the 
maximum of enjoyment out of the master writers, ""^^^^^ '''" 
you must make some progress as a writer yourself. 
There is also great satisfaction in having expressed 
something wxll. For the reward of composition, 
like that of all creative work, is a sense of personal 
satisfaction and enjoyment — the purest and noblest 
to be found. 

So much for the personal gratification that skill 
in composition brings. It can add greatly to the ^J^^^/''^^^ 
happiness of others as well. I call frequently on add greatly 
parents whose son is a missionary in China. The p^^^^g^f^P" 
son has had a university training in which special others, 
emphasis was laid upon English composition and 
rhetoric. He now writes home long letters on his 
life and work in that far-away land. His parents 
read again and again these clear and interesting 
letters. The neighbors come in to enjoy them. 
Their publication would, of course, greatly enlarge 
the number of readers; but even in the little circle 
of the home and immediate friends of the family 
they are decidedly worth while. It is inconceivable 
that any person trained in good English expres- 
sion should go through life without adding by his 



I02 



WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 



Importance 
of a good 
business 
letter. 



Business 
correspond- 
ence opens 
a wide field 
of useful- 



letters to friends and relatives to the sum of their 
happiness; or that he should refuse to contribute 
papers to the clubs and associations to which he 
belongs, even if he never writes for publication. 

There is an important field for good English ex- 
pression in the business world today. A large part 
of the business of the world is done by correspond- 
ence. Merchandise worth millions of dollars is 
bought and sold every year by letter only. Letters 
tell how it is to be shipped, when, where, to whom, 
at what prices, and by what express companies or 
railways. Letters make complaints also, and clear 
up misunderstandings. Carelessness in the word- 
ing of these letters — lack of clearness and precision 
— sometimes results in heavy losses to merchants 
and shippers; for if mistakes are made in filling 
orders customers are dissatisfied and their patronage 
is lost. 

To handle this vast correspondence thousands 
of young men and women are employed in our large 
cities. They must know how to write clear, concise, 
courteous, grammatical letters, properly spelled and 
punctuated. The letters must state clearly just 
what is meant, so that no costly mistakes shall 
occur. To insure clearness, and also to conserve 
the standing of the firm, the spelling and grammar 
must be correct. People do not trust ignorant 
business men; they prefer to do business with those 
whose correspondence reflects credit on their educa- 
tion and intelligence. The letters must be precise, 
which means short and to the point; for busi- 
ness men are always in a hurry, and have not time 



ENGLISH 103 

to read a single word more than is necessary. Fi- 
nally the letters must be courteous in order to keep 
the good-will of those with whom the firm does 
business; otherwise trade will fall off. In fact, the 
spirit of the correspondence should reveal the high 
qualities of honorable business men. It follows 
that those young men and women w^ho can be 
trusted to write good business letters are greatly 
in demand. 

How TO Study English 

The question "Why study literature, grammar, 

spelHng, composition, and rhetoric?" has been Mood in 
1 • n 1 TS.T 1 • ..TT which to en- 

brieny answered. Mow comes the question. How joy litera- 

study each of these branches of English?" The ^^^^• 
answer to the question, "How study English litera- 
ture?" might well be this: Don't study it; just 
read and enjoy it. Attitude of mind is most im- 
portant. A sense of leisure is needed; a mood of 
enjoyment, of abstraction from other things, so 
that the mind can be given fully to the reading. 
Let the mind picture the setting and see the char- 
acters; give the imagination full play. 

It is well for the enthusiast early to form a com- 
panionship with some one equally fond of litera- Literary 
ture so that each may read aloud to the other those ships, 
passages that each finds most delightful. Appre- 
ciation will be stimulated and pleasure enhanced 
by such joint voyages of discovery into the lands of 
literature. 

There remains only to repeat some of the points 
made in Part I, To enjoy the rhythm, emotional 



I04 



WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 



When to 
read aloud. 



Where er- 
rors occur. 



Guarding 
against 
error by 
noting 



mood, and rhyme of poetry and of artistic prose, 
read it aloud. Again, if you wish the author's 
style and diction to influence your own, read aloud. 
It is well also to hear a trained reader whenever 
you can. Such a one will often reveal to you new 
beauties and meanings that you had never realized 
in your own reading. In order to get a connected 
view, read the whole play, poem, or story at a 
single sitting if you can. If it is too long for that, 
recall before reading what you read at a previous 
sitting. Mark the noteworthy passages for further 
reading and consideration. 

How TO Study Spelling 

Spelling is to be acquired almost wholly by pure 
feats of memorizing. Few rules are helpful; but 
these should at once be thoroughly learned. In 
addition, the rules for memory drill are about all 
that can be applied. A study of spelling tests 
reveals the fact that the greater the number of 
possibiHties of error in a word the more frequently 
win the word be misspelled. These possibilities 
of error arise from the fact that in pronunciation 
we do not discriminate between soft c and s, nor 
between single and double letters as the /'s in pity 
or wiiiy; nor do we discriminate the vowels in many 
unaccented syllables, as in evident, where the I has 
the same sound as that of the e's. There are also 
many vowels and combinations of vowels that are 



where errors pronounced alike, as in the sound of long e which 
may occur. ^^^^^^ -^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^ j.^^^ ^.j^^-^f ^ receive, and marine. 

The student will be helped by knowing these 



ENGLISH 105 

more frequent vowels and vowel combinations that 

represent identical sounds in spelling. He will 

then be able to detect possibilities of error in a word, 

and can fortify himself against them. Besides 

the e sound noted above, he should watch for i 

which appears in h/t, h>'mn, bwsy, W(}men, pretty, 

etc.; for a which appears in male, eight, straight, 

great, may, etc.; for e which appears in met, bwry, 

any, dead, sa/d, Geaffrey, etc.; for e which occurs in 

her, pearl, myrrh, sir, hurt, warse, etc.; for the 

sound of u in wp, C(?me, daes, blaad; the a and the 

obscure vowel which is very much like it in portable, 

credible, callect, agent, etc.; for in show, beaz^, 

sew, dawgh, hae, yeaman, etc.; for in waif, wawld, 

fwll, and baak; for a in mave, faad, grew, trwce, 

etc.; for I in mz'ght, aisle, hez'ght, 1/e, etc.; for u 

in flwte, brwte, crwde, suit, etc. The prin- 

We repeat here a few of the most important rules ^'P^^^ °^ 

memory 
lor spellmg drill. drill. 

1. Use multiple imagery (i.e. pronounce carefully, spell 
aloud by syllable, write, and vocalize the word, observing 
the possibilities of error). 

2. Repeat at increasing intervals (i.e. review tomorrow, 
skip a day and review, skip a week and review, skip a 
month and review). 

3. Associate the spelling of as many words as possible, as 
when the ie in believe is associated with the ie in lie. 

How TO Study Grammar 



The science of grammar is suiSciently organized 

to admit associating one fact or principle with ^J^^^ ^se 

^1 *.,.,, of the prm- 

another at every step. Associate the independent ciple of 

elements, subject, verb, and predicate word. Asso- association. 



io6 



WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 



Employ the 
method of 
discrimina- 
tion with 
association. 



The synop- 
sis should be 
employed in 
studying 
grammar. 



date the dependent elements, both those that may 
stand alone (as adjective, adverb, and possessive), 
and those that occur in groups as phrases (preposi- 
tional, participial, infinitive), and as clauses. 

Along with the association should go discrimina- 
tion. Ask yourself such questions as these : How- 
is an adverb like an adjective? How is it unlike 
an adjective? How is a phrase like a clause? How 
unlike a clause? How is a predicate noun like a 
direct object? How unlike a direct object? How 
is a participle like an infinitive? How unlike an 
infinitive? 

As fast as you cover ground make an outline or 
synopsis that associates the related things studied. 
For each part of speech or construction have an ex- 
ample to illustrate. To organize the materials of 
grammar in your mind by grouping all the details 
under the fewest possible main heads is the easiest 
way to remember them. Association and discrimi- 
nation by similarities and contrasts is the easiest 
way to arrive at clear ideas regarding the parts of 
the sentence. 

The material is of such importance that it war- 
rants drill to drive it home. For this turn to page 
94 where the principles of drill are given in full. 



How TO Study Rhetoric and Composition 

The methods of study which have been applied 

Find appli- ^q grammar apply equally well to rhetoric. Rhe- 

cations of f . ,i ,. i • i 

rhetorical tone IS now generally studied with composition. 

principles in j^ furnishes the theory and ''rules of the game." 
your read- ^ „ . . , r ^ • .^ j- 

ing. An excellent practice is that of endeavoring to dis- 



ENGLISH 107 

cover principles of rhetoric in one's prose reading. 
The practice fixes the principles more firmly in the 
mind, and gives them added significance for per- 
sonal use. 

In composition or theme writing it is important 

to choose as a subject that about which you know Great im- 

1 . 1 • 1 • 1 -rr portance of 

somethmg and m which you are mterested. If knowledge 

you know" little or nothing of the subject assigned, 

inform yourself. Let the information remain a 

day or two in your mind before writing. In the sition. 

meantime think about it in order to make the 

material your own, and to give it original color 

and interest. 

When you have to write a theme on any subject, 
it is a good device to make an outline in advance. 
If a theme is due on the morrow make an outline ject precede 
of it tonight. Write it out in full tomorrow. New writing, 
thoughts, perhaps adding greatly to the interest, 
will be likely to come to you in the meantime as a 
result of the outline; and they can be added in 
the final draft. 

Few persons can sit down and write with ease 
from the moment they take up the pen. Usually ?^°^ ^° ^^^ 
a period of time is necessary "to get up steam." mood and 
During this time think hard. Keep writin? though swing for 

r ^ r 1 "r 1 • Writing. 

you erase one false start after another. In this way 
you shut out all distracting thoughts which would 
occupy your mind if you should cease w^ork. Pres- 
ently, ideas will flow from your pen as fast as you 
can put them dow^n. 

Always read aloud what you have written. Awk- 
wardness thus becomes apparent; you will keep 



io8 WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 

Test your ^-^g same rhythm and swing, and your style will 
reading be more consistent throughout. After a pause in 
aloud what writing, go back and read what you have written, 
written. in order to get into the swing of thought and style 
again. Last of all be sure that you have made the 
best possible use of your knowledge of punctuation; 
check up the spelling of doubtful words by refer- 
ence to the dictionary. 



IV. Why Study the Modern Languages? 

By modern means of travel, the barriers of space 

have been conquered. Places now seem nearer than ^^^ ^°^^^ 
^ grows 

they did before we could journey by rail or by steam- smaller. 

ship; and the barriers of distance must continue to 

yield to improvement in means of transportation. 

The nations of the earth are no longer separated from 

one another as of old. These commonplaces are 

said here in order to stress the fact that foreign 

peoples are to be brought into still closer and more 

frequent contact with one another, and that there 

will be more need of the study of modern languages. 

The necessities of trade and foreign travel demand 

that foreign tongues be mastered. Moreover such Foreign lan- 
^ ^ . , . guages are 

study will increase our understanding and apprecia- useful in 

tion of foreign peoples. Foreign literature may trade and 

become to us a source of light and inspiration, afford new 

What there is of really great English literature ^^^^^ ^J ^' 
•^ ® ° erary mspi- 

may be read in a few years. When Shakespeare ration. 

and the masters since his time have been exhausted, 

what a delight to be able to turn to Goethe, Schiller, 

Moliere, Hugo, and Balzac! No translations exist 

that reflect the genius of such masters. To be fully 

appreciated they must be read in the original. 

The knowledge of a European language is useful 

to leaders in the professions. If a man means to keep European 

fully abreast of the times in any art or profession, language 
•^ . -^ ^ . necessary- 

he will wish to follow the German or French jour- for leader- 

nals of scientific progress. As for Spanish, Ameri- ^^^P '^ ^^^ , 

^ ^ . . . sciences and 

cans will have a growing need of acquiring this professions. 



no 



WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 



serious 
purpose in 
order to 
acquire a 
language. 



language as they come into closer trade relations 
with South American countries. 

In spite of the real need for the study of foreign 
Necessity of languages, many students are without sufficient 
purpose in the work. With some the study of a 
foreign language is a matter of fashion rather than 
of serious intention. To say a few words in German 
or French seems to them a badge of distinction; 
and that is all they carry away after years spent in 
classes studying these languages. Such sort of 
study should be discouraged. The fact is that it 
is exceedingly difficult to learn to speak and write 
a foreign language while resident in America. One 
must put his whole heart into it, going over and 
over again the forms, sentences, and idiomatic ex- 
pressions. By no means undertake the task unless 
you fully expect to make use of the language. 



How TO Study a Foreign Language 



The direct 
method. 



Use the direct method. Read aloud, striving to 
get the thought from the foreign idiom direct, 
without the interference of English w^ords. Apply 
every day to pictures and objects about you the 
new words acquired. Use the language in this way 
not once but twenty times a day; use it as you walk 
to and from school, as you sit at the table, as you 
talk with classmates, as you wake from sleep. On 
every occasion read aloud in the foreign tongue; 
go to hear plays and addresses in it; seek oppor- 
tunities to speak with foreigners in their na- 
tive language. Study carefully the rules for 



MATHEMATICS iii 

memory drill given under the study of Latin and 
apply them here. 

V. Why Study Mathematics? 

In most high schools algebra and geometry are 
not elective but required subjects. The student, ^^^7%^^!-,, 
therefore, has no choice but to take them. All the in numbers. 
more, then, is it incumbent upon the schools to 
make very clear the value of the work offered in 
these subjects. It is not a difficult task to make 
such a showing, for number and quantity relations 
necessarily enter into the everyday thinking of 
almost all men and women. Quantities of money 
are paid for quantities of goods and services: this 
is the great practical fact that forces mathematical 
thinking upon everyone. 

The contractor, engineer, builder, and business 

man think largely in numbers. Not long ago I Occupa- 

u J ^1, . - ^ ^ . "^ tionswhere- 

overneard the conversation of two men who sat in the need 

behind me in a railway coach; for two hours their ?^ such skill 
, „ f ., . . , . . , , is para- 

talk was of quantities, weights, sizes, strains, loads, mount. 

and values expressed in numbers. They are build- 
ing contractors, to whom training in mathematics 
is indispensable. Mathematics is also essential to 
a proper grasp and use of the sciences. It is the 
application of mathematics to science that has given 
us our modern industrial progress. If you are to 
take physics and chemistry in the later years of 
your course, you should master algebra and geome- 
try in advance. 

"The ultimate needs of society and the present 
needs of the child must govern the selection of 



112 WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 

A statement work in the high school as well as in the elementary 
ski. school. How varied is the need of mathematical 

reasoning is shown by the numerous developments 
along mathematical lines in other fields, e.g., biomet- 
rics, mathematical chemistry, and mathematical 
physics. Analytical and graphical treatment of 
statistics is employed by the economist, the phi- 
lanthropist, the business expert, the actuary, and 
even the physician, with the most surprisingly 
valuable results; while symbolic language involving 
mathematical methods has become a part of well- 
nigh every large business. The handling of pig- 
iron does not seem to offer any opportunity for 
mathematical application. Yet graphical and ana- 
lytical treatment of the data from long-continued 
experiments with this material at Bethlehem, 
Pennsylvania, resulted in the discovery of the law 
that fatigue varies in proportion to a certain rela- 
tion between the load and the periods of rest. 
Practical application of this law increased the 
amount handled by each man from twelve and a 
half to forty-seven tons per day. Such a study 
would have been impossible without preliminary 
acquaintance with the simple invariable elements 
of mathematics." ^ 

How TO Study Mathematics 
Take time Avoid guess-work. Leisure is a prime requisite 
nervous^' for the study of mathematics. Give yourself 
haste is fatal ^ime to think. Many of the failures in this sub- 
work, ject are due to haste. Students are in too great a 
1 Johnston et al., High School Education, p. 134. 



MATHEMATICS 113 

hurry to read and understand the problem before 
them; and in consequence they fail to grasp all 
the details. They fail to see just what is given in 
the data and what is called for in the solution. 
They are in so great a hurry that they do not 
think out how to apply in the solution of today's 
problem the mathematical principles previously ac- 
quired. 
They rush into the operation and trust to luck 

that it will come out right; they do not take time ?^^^^ ^°J^ 

^ , , . IS wasteful 

to know Sit every step that the solution must come of time and 

out right. Often they are satisfied if the result energy. 

of an algebraic solution is a whole number; if it is 

a fraction, they work it out again by perhaps an 

entirely different process. The important thing 

is to proceed slowly and deliberately, letting thought 

and reason outrun the pencil and direct the work. 

So much of the work in school is memory work 

that pupils are likely to endeavor to apply the same Reason, not 

. memory, is 

process to mathematics. But m this study reflec- the faculty 

tion is the mental process most necessary. The ^° guide. 
method of trial and error, used in much practical 
investigation, is out of place in mathematics. In 
this subject one should not employ the experi- 
mental process of the puzzle or of the scientific 
problem. 

In algebra take time to think out an accurate 

statement; then be sure of your arithmetical pro- ^^ ^^^^ ^J 

1 . , 1- . 1 , . ,. . your work 

cesses by going over additions and multiplications as you pro- 

twice unless you are thoroughly confident of your ^e^*^- 

accuracy. Do not try multiplication first and when 

that fails fly to division, as I have known some poor 



114 WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 

students do. There is need of frequent review of 

the cases and formulas previously learned. 

In geometry an excellent method of finding out 

Be sure to whether you have understood, the theorem is to 

understand draw the figure independently of the book. Later 

all the data ^-^j-j^ ^q ^}^g figure in the book to see if your own 

ceeding to a work satisfies equally well the conditions of the 

solution. theorem. Some of the best work done in geometry 

is done by those classes who use no book at all; and 

you may be sure that a large factor in their success 

comes from the necessity of reading carefully 

and understanding all of the conditions or data 

required for constructing an independent figure. 

The data thoroughly known, the solution generally 

follows. 

In no study can the principle of competition be 
Friendly more happily applied than in mathematics. Each 
is a source problem has the fascination of a puzzle. Who can 

of added in- solve the greatest number of them? There are few 
terest 

students who have not felt the keen interest that 

such work excites. He who has not has missed 
the most stimulating and invigorating mental dis- 
cipline that the school affords. Surely the power of 
concentration gained in an alert class in mathe- 
matics carries over into many a practical situation 
of after-life. 



VI. Why Study the Sciences? 
Chemistry 

As has been frequently pointed out, it is impos- 
sible to name anything in the world about us that 
chemistry does not help us to understand. The 
clothes we wear, the food we eat, the iron and steel 
that go into our machinery and tools, the bricks 
and mortar, the wood, tile, glass, and cement of our 
homes — the composition of ah these comes under 
the domain of chemistry. The human body is a 
complex of chemical phenomena. Almost every 
function of the body has its explanation in chemical 
process. Chemical processes account for the growth 
and decay of all plants and animals. In short, the 
whole world of living things is dependent for life on 
chemical changes. 

Chemistry shows how a few simple elements are 
put together to make up a world of different materi- ^roadens 
als. It explains what happens in such changes as ests. 
the burning of wood, the digestion and assimila- 
tion of food, the growth of plants, the rusting of 
iron, the rising of bread, and the dyeing of cloth. 
Chemistry broadens the interests of life in every 
direction. 

Metallurgy is a department of chemistry. A 

knowledge of this subject made iron and steel pro- ^^ ^^ *^^ ^^' 
® •' /^ , mense prac- 

duction possible, as well as the production of tm, tical value. 

copper, silver, gold, and zinc. The chemist is 



ii6 WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 

necessary in the production of dyestuffs, soap, 
paint, sugar, glass, paper, ink, drugs, and fertilizers. 
The inspection of food and water is intrusted to the 
chemist. 

There are many problems in chemistry yet to 
A field open \^q solved. Young men and women who come into 
ery. touch with these problems early are likely to keep 

on in the great work of scientific discovery. A 
number of years ago a young student in Ohio read 
of the need of separating aluminium from its ore 
in a less costly way. At the age of twenty-two he 
had solved this problem. He gave us the use of 
An example aluminum ware. At his death, a short time ago, 
the papers devoted columns to this noted man, 
Charles Martin Hall. He died leaving a great for- 
tune ; but the wealth he acquired was only a small 
fraction of the wealth that he gave the world in re- 
ducing the cost of aluminum from ninety dollars 
a pound to eighteen cents. 

This is by no means an isolated example of the 
Duncan's valuable discoveries of chemists. In the University 
University of Kansas various manufacturers have given sums 
of Kansas, of rnoney to enable young students to support them- 
selves while working on some chemical problem 
related to industry. The results of this work are 
gratifying to both manufacturer and chemist. 

The student of chemistry can hope to apply his 
knowledge in the home, shop, factory, and farm 
in a hundred useful ways; and he can have the 
advantage of following the progress of the world 
by reading with interest and understanding numer- 
ous scientific articles and books. 



THE SCIENCES 117 



Physics 



Some years ago a student of mine was obliged to 

seek a change of climate for his health. He went to Where a 

° knowledge 

Hawaii and found work as a laborer upon a large of physics 

sugar plantation. Two years later he paid a visit Proved val- 
to America, having become in the meantime mana- 
ger of the plantation. You will be glad to read 
the story he told of his success. 

Soon after he reached Hawaii, a mill for crushing 
the cane was erected on the place. The erection of 
this machinery proved a task beyond the ability of 
manager and foreman; and no expert machinist 
was at hand. My young friend had studied physics 
in the high school, and his limited knowledge of 
mechanics, derived from that study, was enough 
to enable him to understand and direct the work. 
To the reputation for ability thus earned he owed 
his promotion from day laborer to manager. 

Two other highly successful men who are engaged 

in electrical manufacturing business have told the Physics and 

111. c ^ the inven- 

author that their successful careers were opened to tive faculty. 

them by the study of high school physics. The 
wonderful work of Edison has been in the domains 
of physics and chemistry. The characteristic Ameri- 
can traits of inquisitiveness and invention have 
splendid opportunities here. 

Aside from any vocational value that physics 

may have, it is the key to the interpretation of a Some phe- 

1 r 11 . rr^i • nomena 

vast number of everyday happenmgs. The swmg which phys- 

of the pendulum, the projection and fall of the ^^^ explains. 

bullet, the rainbow's hues, the flash of the lightning 



ii8 WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 

and the crash of thunder, the steam-engine, the 
telescope, the microscope, the telephone and tele- 
graph, the phonograph, the wireless, the X-ray, boil- 
ing water, congealing ice — manifestations of energy 
in ways too numerous to mention here — are all 
beautifully explained in the laws of physics. This 
study, like chemistry, has accomplished great things 
for the comfort, health, and happiness of mankind. 

Biology 

Biology is the study of living things. It is usually 

Botany and pursued as two separate subjects : botany, which is 

the study of plant life, and zoology, which is the 

study of animal life. Man himself is an animal 

and subject to the same laws of life that govern 

other animals. 

In recent years the study of botany and zoology 

Biological j^g^s made very rich returns to the health, wealth, 

study has , . . . _ . 

helped in and happmess of mankmd. It has been found that 

the fight many diseases are caused by the development within 
disease. the system of minute forms of parasitic life. A 

knowledge of these has already gone far toward 
wiping out yellow fever, hookworm, malaria, and 
other human diseases. The practical use of vac- 
cination by Jenner is regarded by some as the 
greatest contribution to the welfare of the race that 
any man has ever made. During the eighteenth 
century fifty million Europeans died of smallpox. 
Vaccination has put a stop to this scourge. Plagues 
that frequently attack livestock and destroy mil- 
lions of dollars worth of farm animals have in late 
years been checked by the biologists. 



THE SCIENCES 119 

Pasteur, the eminent French scientist, saved his 
countrymen untold wealth by his discoveries. He ^^^ "^^^^ o^ 
saved cattle and sheep from a plague called anthrax, jenner exhi- 
chickens from cholera, and human beings from t)its this, 
hydrophobia. In the plant world Pasteur saved the 
vines and wines of France from diseased conditions 
that threatened ruin to this great industry. 

Just now a fatal disease, which attacks the hoofs 
and mouths of cattle threatens to carry off millions 
of dollars worth of livestock. A great American 
scientist, Dr. Simon Flexner, of the Rockefeller 
Institute, New York, has been called to the Chicago 
stockyards in the hope that he may be able to 
discover the biology of this fatal disease and save 
the herds. 

Entomology treats of insects. It is said that 

insects destroy about a billion dollars worth of ^^^ ^^^f 

1 XT • 1 r^ „ri caused by 

crops every year m the United States. What a insect pests. 

wonderful saving might be effected if every farmer 
could be an intelligent observer of these pests! 

Not less valuable is the work of eminent botanists. 
Every young student should be encouraged to J^^ Y^^' u 
read the life of Luther Burbank. Through the of Luther 
breeding and selection of plants, this one man has Burbank. 
added vastly to the wealth of all the world. He 
has improved old varieties of fruits, flowers, grasses, 
trees, and vegetables; has merged "wild or degene- 
rate types of plant life with tame or cultivated ones, 
in order that the union may be of service to both"; 
and has actually created "new forms of life, un- 
known to the world before." ^ As a young man he 
1 Harwood, New Creations in Plant Life, p. 24. 



I20 



WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 



New and 
improved 
species of 
plants. 



The study 
of botany 
should in- 
crease the 
number of 
Burbanks. 



created a new and improved variety of potato which 
became known as the Burbank. It is said that 
this one success has added over twenty miUions of 
dollars to the wealth of the country. 

Here are some of the things that this wonderful 
botanist has done. He has developed a thornless 
cactus which is a food for man and beast, and may 
be grown in the desert. He has made a new berry, 
called the primusberry, a union of the blackberry 
and the raspberry. From the apricot and the plum 
he has made a new fruit, called the plumcot. Other 
creations from the plum are (i) a plum with no pit, 

(2) a plum with the flavor of a Bartlett pear, and 

(3) one having a rare fragrance. He has taken the 
bitter taste of tannin from the walnut skin that 
covers the meat; has made a fast-growing tree, a 
daisy with a six-inch blossom, a dahlia with the 
odor of magnolia blossoms, a lily with the fragrance 
of violets, a chestnut tree that bears in eighteen 
months from the time of seed planting, a delicious 
white blackberry, a poppy with a ten-inch blossom, 
and a twelve-inch calla. He has greatly improved 
many species of fruits; among these is a prune 
three or four times as large as the ordinary French 
prune. 

The work that Burbank has done, great as it is, 
is still only a beginning. It has blessed and 
enriched mankind immeasurably; still it is only 
pioneer work. When his example shall have stimu- 
lated a whole generation of ambitious young bota- 
nists introduced to the subject in our high schools, 
progress in this field should be still more rapid. 



Physical Geography 

The subject of physical geography treats of the 
physical sciences as applied to the earth. It is The subject 
nature study with reference to inanimate nature, physical 
Biology treats of living things — plants and ani- geography 
mals. Physiography treats of the forces and laws interesting 
of nature as applied to material things, such as ^^^ useful, 
soils, rocks, mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes, and 
seas. It explains also such phenomena as winds, 
waves, tides, heat, cold, rain, ice, snow, frost, and 
dew. 

There are two sides from which to view the value 
of this study : the cultural side and the economic side. 
Viewed from the cultural side physiography is seen 
to add to one's capacity for noble enjoyment. From 
the economic side it is seen to add to one's capacity 
to earn a living. Thus there is both pleasure and 
profit in the pursuit of this study. 

To one gifted with natural curiosity there is a 
wealth of satisfaction in learning why so many K^^^.^^^g^t 
things about us are as they are. The inquiring mind to see the 
finds in physiography interesting answers to a large significance 
number of questions concerning the physical world, things. 
The subject gives interest to everything about us. 
As fact after fact is seen to fall under one or another 
law, Yve no longer inhabit chaos. The hill, the lake, 
the river, the ravine that catches our eye has a story 
to tell. Even changes of wind and weather are 
not the effect of blind chance. The very stones 
under our feet become eloquent of world history. 
Here is a huge one dropped from some vast glacier. 



122 WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 

Here is a sharp one that has been shattered by the 
■power of frost. Here is one fused by volcanic heat. 
Here is one that has been rolled and polished by the 
action of waves. Here is one, picked up in northern 
Michigan, where long ago the coral polyps fashioned 
it, when this land was covered with a summer sea, 
stretching from the Gulf of Mexico. Thus new 
beauty and significance come to common things as 
we learn to understand them in the light of this 
science. Thought and conversation are enriched pro- 
portionately ; and we are able both to read more 
understandingly and to grasp what we hear when 
the topic touches upon this science of physiography. 
So much for the cultural or pleasure-giving side 

Industrial Qf ^j^g study. The profit side is just as apparent. 

this scien:e. Training which makes men more observant of their 
environment makes it possible for them to take 
advantage of opportunities otherwise unseen. All 
occupations are conditioned by physical environ- 
ment. The student of physiography, more than 
any one else, can tell the people of a locality what 
occupations they should pursue. He knows where 
to go to get the best returns for his labor in a par- 
ticular line. Knowing the environmental conditions 
of a given place, he can judge how great a population 
can exist there, what animals and plants will thrive, 
and for what industries the place is best suited. 

In many cases physical geography is given as 
a part of the general course in science required of 
all students in the freshman year of high school. 
From what has been said it can readily be seen that 
the requirement is made with good reason. The 



THE SCIENCES 123 

subject is evidently of the first importance to 
every one. 

How TO Study Science 

Science gives an opportunity to study things at 
first hand rather than through the medium of T^^ ^^J^"' 
books. The method of forming general ideas from of research, 
facts gathered from observation is called the 
scientific method. The scientific method of study 
can be employed in business problems, and in 
any difficult situation of life, to very great ad- 
vantage. Below is an outline showing how to make 
use of the scientific method in finding out a general 
truth. 

I. State carefully the problem that you wish 

to solve. 
n. Consider a wide variety .of data, and avoid 

the error of too hasty conclusions. Show 

energy and originality in your search for 

facts to serve as data. 
ni. Observe carefully your data. Analyze them; 

i.e., examine them part by part. Look for 

likenesses and unlikenesses to find out what is 

typical and what is only accidental. 

IV. Guess at your theory in the light of your 
observations. Avoid the error of not con- 
sidering facts that won't square with your 
theory. 

V. State your theory carefully. 

VI. Verify the theory by applying it to further 
data. 



124 



WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 



Applying 
the scien- 
tific 
method. 



Application of the Foregoing Outline 

I. Statement of problem : What causes the dew? 

II. Variety of data. 

1. From first-hand observations made night and morning 
on weather conditions and dew by a high school 
student. 

a. No dew after cloudy nights. 

b. Dew after clear, still nights. 

c. No dew after windy nights. 

d. More dew in valley than on hilltops. 

e. Little dew on tree tops; much on grass. 

/. Much dew on ax blade, little on helve; ax blade 

feels colder than helve. 
g. More dew on cool nights than on hot. 
h. No dew on winter nights; frost in spring and fall. 

2. First-hand observations made by day on other deposits 
of moisture. 

a. Water pitcher sweats when filled with cold water; 
does not sweat when filled with warm. 

b. Hatchet blade sweats when brought from refrigera- 
tor; not when brought from oven. 

c. Cellar wall sweats on warm spring day; feels cold to 
touch. 

d. Rain falls when the wind changes and a cooler 
breeze strikes the clouds. 

e. Water evaporates into the air; hence there must be 
moisture in the air. 

/. Moisture on window panes on cool day, when house 
is warmer than air outside. 

III. Observation of data. 

a. Unfavorable to dew: high places like hilltops and 
tree tops; wind, warm nights, winter nights, cloudy 
nights. 

b. Favorable to dew: cool clear nights, low places, cool 
surfaces; summer weather. 

c. Favorable to other deposits of moisture : cold water 
pitcher, cold hatchet blade, cold cellar wall, cool 
window-panes. Cool breeze (rainfall from). 



THE SCIENCES 125 

IV. Theories and fancies. 

1. The dew falls from the sky like a very fine mist. 
(Mother says, " Come in, children; the dew is falling.") 

2. The dew sweats out of the ground as it does from a 
pitcher of icewater. 

3. The dew comes from the breath of men and of animals 
and from steam and settles on things just as moisture 
in the house settles on window-panes. 

4. Dev/ is moisture which the air gives up when it comes 
in contact with a cooler surface. 

Now take up each of the theories in turn and see 
how it squares with the data or facts that have 
been observed and recorded. The first theory is 
that the dew falls from the sky like a very fine 
mist. The first fact observed is that there is no dew 
after cloudy nights. A fine mist is a fog, which 
would cause the sky to be overcast. Thus the 
very first fact is inconsistent with the theory. The 
second fact also refutes this theory; for there is 
dew after clear, still nights. Furthermore, the 
theory that dew falls does not account for the fact 
that there is no dew on windy nights. Again, if 
dew fell from the sky, as much would fall on hills 
and tree tops as on valleys and low places; as much 
on the ax helve as on the blade, etc. This first the- 
ory does not account for one of the facts given. 

The second theory is based on a false assump- 
tion; for the water pitcher does not gather mois- 
ture by sweating, any more than does the cool 
hatchet blade. Neither the pitcher nor the hatchet 
has a system of sweat glands. Furthermore, it 
does not account for any of the facts. 

The third theory does not account for la, id, i/, 
ig, 2a, 2b, 2C, 



126 



WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 



Vocational 
value of 
skill in 
scientific 
procedure. 



The fourth theory accounts for practically all of 
the phenomena observed. There is no dew after 
cloudy nights because the clouds act as a blanket to 
prevent the earth's surface from cooling to the dew 
point as it does on clear nights. Place your hand 
on the ground on such a night and see if it is not 
warmer than on clear nights. Winds do not allow 
the air to remain long enough in one place to cool 
and give up its moisture. The moving air of windy 
places, as on hills and tree tops, acts to reduce the 
amount of dew deposited there. The cold ax blade, 
water pitcher, cellar walls, and window-panes cause 
the warm air on them to give up its moisture just as 
the cool earth causes the dew. The cool wind on 
the clouds condenses their moisture into raindrops. 

V. Therefore: Dew is moisture which the air gives up 
when it comes in contact with the surface of something 
cooler than the air. 

VI. Verification. — Fill a polished metal beaker half full 
of lukewarm water. Stir it with a thermometer, adding bits 
of ice the while. Notice how the temperature gradually 
drops till the beaker is cool enough to make the air deposit 
moisture on its polished surface. 

Skill in the use of the scientific method will carry 
over to any commercial or industrial problem. 
Even today progress is largely dependent upon its 
use. See if you can follow the method as applied 
above and work out for yourself this problem: Why 

am I less successful in than is my friend 

? In the second blank fill in the name of 

a student. In the first blank fill in a study or 
accomplishment of any kind; or use such a problem 
as that of winning friends or of earning money. 



VII. Why Study Economics? 

Economics treats of the production, distribution, 

and consumption of wealth. It is concerned with ^^^ subject 

... T.T 1 matter con- 

man s efforts to secure a hvmg. Nearly every cerns man's 

human institution has its economic side. This efforts to 
is true of education, and especially of govern- ing. 
ment. Industrial history receives attention as the 
background of the subject; but modern industry 
also, and particularly the productive efforts of people 
in the student's own locality, come in for consi- 
deration. 

These are some of the topics usually studied in 
a course in economics: the organization of labor, ^^. ,^°Y^,^^ ^ 

11 T • • r ^ 1 rr ' Wldc hcM of 

occupations and the division of labor, einciency, practical 
trade-unions, the problems of labor and capital, com- matters, 
petition, competitive prices, monopoly and monopoly 
prices, interest, profits, money and coinage, bank- 
ing, tariff and internal revenue, taxes, public owner- 
ship or control of means of production, public 
utilities such as railways, gas, water, telephone and 
telegraph companies, and the various forms of 
collective and individual use of wealth. 
A mere enumeration of these topics shows that 

economics is a decidedly live and important sub- ^^ }^ °^ , 

c 1 rr^i . , . , value to the 

ject oi study. These are matters m which every voter and 

citizen is interested. The student of economics reformer as 

•n i_ ^ 1 .11. •■ 1 well as to 

will be not only a more intelligent voter, but he the man 

should also be a force to mold public opinion, and engaged in 
in industrial and commercial life he should be more living, 
capable of intelligent action and of organizing suc- 
cessful business. 



VIII. Why Study Psychology? 



Psychology 
treats of the 
mental life. 



It is as use- 
ful as is 
physiology. 



The subject 
is much dis- 
cussed and 
little under- 
stood. 



Psychology is the science of mental life. It 
treats of feelings, sensations, understandings, rea- 
sonings and decisions, and the relation of mental 
processes to conduct. It investigates memory, 
will, attention, interest, suggestion, fatigue, habit, 
association of ideas, and all the phenomena by 
which the world becomes subject to consciousness. 
The physiological parts which are most intimately 
connected with mental acts or processes also re- 
ceive attention; especially the brain, nerves, and 
the sense organs of sight, hearing, smell, touch, 
and taste. 

If it is worth while for men to study physiology 
and hygiene in order to understand their physical 
functions and to use and preserve their bodies in a 
state of efficiency, it is certainly worth while to 
study psychology in order to understand the mind 
and how best to use and preserve it in full vigor 
and usefulness. The principles of effective study 
in Part I of this book are based upon principles of 
psychology. 

At the present time there is wide interest in 
psychology and no wide knowledge of its truths. 
Hence many are being misled by the pretensions 
of pseudo-scientists and the wild utterances of 
charlatans. Especially is this true in the half- 
explored realms of subconscious phenomena. A 
great deal is being written and read about hypno- 
tism, suggestion, the power of mind over matter, 



PSYCHOLOGY 129 

clairvoyance, etc., that has no scientific foundation 

in fact. 

A few days ago a young man came to me with 

a book published by a well-known Chicago firm. ?^°^ ^^^ 
rr^i 1 t ^ • 1 1 • Ignorant 

The book clamis to have passed through mnumer- are duped. 

able editions, and the author's name is followed 

by learned titles. The work is full of the wildest 

statements; evidently it was written not to inform 

but to sell; yet the dear fellow who brought it to 

me had underlined much of it, committed whole 

pages to memory, and was making it a large part 

of his thinking and of his philosophy of life. I 

had him write to unquestioned scholars — professors 

of psychology at three universities — to get their 

opinion of the author and the book. Their replies 

were so unfavorable and so consistent that he 

readily saw that he had been made the victim of 

a fraud. The study of psychology would have 

put him on his guard in the beginning. 

The serious study of mental phenomena is not 

without interest and the knowledge gained is of Practical 
1 • T • All- ^alu6 of a 

value m many directions. Among other things, knowledge 

psychology is helping to an understanding of de- °^ psychol- 

linquency and crime; it is useful to the physician 

in the handling of certain types of nervous diseases; 

to the clergyman and social worker in knowing 

better how to influence the minds and conduct 

of others; and even to the business man in writing 

his advertisements and in selling his goods. 



IX. Why Study Drawing? 

There are certain studies the subject-matter and 
Not all high value of which are so well known that it seems 

school sub- n • 1 1 

jects need scarcely necessary to call attention to them here. 

elucidation. Physiology and hygiene are examples. These sub- 
jects are taught in the grades and continued in 
the high school in an advanced form, usually with 
more detail and with more emphasis upon the 
experimental side. 

Free-hand drawing and art are also subjects 
continued from earlier grades. Their great culture 
value in increasing the powers of observation and 
in stimulating taste and appreciation for the beauti- 
ful, should be pointed out long before the high 
school is entered. 

Perhaps this is the place to call attention to the 

The yoca- vocational value of drawing and art. One does 

tional value ... 

of drawing not have to be an artist in order to make use of 

and art in these Studies. Every useful object of merchandise 

giving value . . 

to industrial will find a more ready sale and will sell at a higher 

products. price if it has been fashioned in lines of beauty and 
embellished with attractive coloring. Pieces of 
furniture, rugs, carpets, dresses, hats, every article 
of apparel, also houses, wagons, and automobiles, 
all receive added value from symmetry and grace. 
Even plows, hoes, and steam engines, articles which 
are bought primarily for use, will give more satis- 
faction if they also please the eye. The producer 
in any line can win larger returns if he has cultivated 



DRAWING 131 

his sense of the beautiful. It is of decided advan- 
tage if to good taste there is added skill with brush 
and pencil so that the desired effect can be pictured 
in advance of production. 

Invention is greatly aided by skill in freehand 

drawing. The order of procedure is this: first the How draw- 
1 1 r 1 1 1 • 1 1 ing fosters 

idea; then the freehand drawing, next the work- invention. 

ing drawing, next the pattern in wood, and finally 

the completed article. 

Mechanical drawing is a most useful art. It is 

indispensable in the building and manufacturing Mechanical 

ITT 1 drawing as 

trades. Very often men are advanced to foreman- an aid in in- 

ships and other positions of responsibility solely dustry. 
because they can read and understand working 
drawings. Ability to make such drawings often 
enables one to improve processes of manufacture 
and to give greater value to the product. 

Drafting is an occupation that calls for a con- 
siderable number of men expert in mechanical Mechanical 
, . ,^ ^ , . . drawing as 

drawing. Young men often enter this occupation a vocation. 

from high school and college courses. From it the 
ablest of them rise to become architects, builders, 
or manufacturers. 



X. Vocational Studies 

Stenography 

Commercial work in the high school leads di- 
A good rectly to many business openings, and afterward into 

stone to pre- avenues of promotion. Young men often feel that 
ferment. stenography is the province of women. On the 
contrary, no work affords a better opportunity to 
rise to managerial positions. Not long ago four 
men filling high places in railroad service sat down 
to dinner together at the Traffic Club in Chicago. 
In the course of the conversation it was revealed 
that each of the four had begun his career as a 
stenographer. 
The capable young stenographer becomes pres- 
The private ently a private secretary to an official. He learns 
here the duties of that official. Intimate relations 
with a strong superior will give him not only excel- 
lent training, but also opportunity to show his own 
worth and to win the confidence of one in whose 
power it generally lies to recommend or promote 
to positions of responsibility. 

What is true in this respect of railroading is 
also true of other business. The wider the train- 
ing and education that a secretary has, the more 
valuable his services. A good technical education, 
coupled with literary skill, is especially valuable 
in the offices of industrial corporations. A knowl- 
edge of business law, commercial geography, book- 
keeping, and commercial arithmetic are valuable in 
every office. 



VOCATIONAL STUDIES 133 

Many people are misinformed as to the amount 

of education needed by stenographers. Largely ^^^^ ^^ ^ 

responsible for this condition are the so-called education 

business colleges with their six-months' courses to ^°^ , stenog- 

° rapners. 

which they attract grammar school graduates. 

The young stenographer who cannot understand the 
matter she is taking from dictation will not be 
able to read her notes when they become cold; much 
less will she be able to paragraph, punctuate, and 
spell them correctly. Such a one must in these 
days of competition expect in most instances to be 
dismissed from one position after another, until, 
perchance, she has picked up enough general infor- 
mation and enough English to earn fifty dollars a 
month and satisfy her employer. On the other 
hand, women of education and ability are found who 
have been promoted to positions as private secre- 
taries at salaries as high as three and four thousand 
a year. 

Bookkeeping 

Bookkeeping is also a good opening for young 

men desiring to enter commercial lines. To the Possibilities 

^ . . , 01 promo- 

possessor of real mathematical talent, orgamzmg tion for 

ability, and experience, there are open such posi- 
tions as those of head bookkeeper, auditor, and comp- 
troller of great business enterprises. Certified public 
accountants are expert bookkeepers who have 
passed certain state examinations. Many of them 
go into business for themselves, and are employed 
by public and private corporations to examine 
their books of accounts and make a report to the 



book- 
keepers. 



134 WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 

public or to the stockholders on their accuracy 
and on the financial state of the corporation. 
Men who remain in the subordinate position of 
Disadvan- ^ bookkeeper soon reach the limit of their earning 
capacity at a salary of from fifteen to twenty dollars 
a week. They do not meet the public, do not 
direct the work of others, or assume large responsi- 
bility. In consequence, if they remain too long at 
the bookkeeping desk they are likely to be incapaci- 
tated for positions which involve broader duties and 
greater responsibilities. Yet many managers and 
employers have been developed from alert young 
bookkeepers who have learned much about the 
details of business. In large banks and offices, where 
there is a minute division of labor, a bookkeeper 
will learn less than in smaller offices unless he 
manages to be transferred from one desk and one 
set of books to another. The expert who becomes 
an auditor, public accountant, comptroller, or the 
like, can rise to a salary of three to five thousand 
dollars a year, and in some cases to even more. 

Salesmanship 

The work of a salesman is usually more highly 
Why the p^id than that of other employees such as clerks 
highly paid, and bookkeepers. The life of th6 business is im- 
mediately dependent upon the sale of goods. The 
traveling salesman who can go out and get busi- 
ness, and thus enlarge the profits of the concern 
for which he sells, is in a position to demand a good 
salary. The salesman behind a counter, to whom 
customers come, will earn less than the traveling 



VOCATIONAL STUDIES 135 

salesman; but success even here is rewarded by 

increased pay. Tlie clerk or bookkeeper who looks 

after routine duties which are fixed and easily 

within the capacity of average men, has little chance 

to display energy and ability, and to increase his 

earnings. The salesman is not so confined; the 

more he can sell the more he can earn. 

Salesmanship is an art which may be learned as 

well as a gift which is inborn. Success will depend Traits of a 

good sales- 
m part upon one s knowledge of human nature, man. 

and upon one's knowledge of the goods he is selling 

and of competing goods. But in large measure 

qualities of character will determine one's earning 

capacity as a salesman. In the first place the ability 

to meet and deal with men is all-important. Boys 

who are poor students because they like people more 

than they like books, and prefer always to be in 

the company of others rather than alone with their 

studies, may make excellent salesmen. They are 

popular in school; they make friends easily; they 

are never embarrassed in conversation; and they 

quickly win the confidence of others. Above all, 

the salesman must win confidence. If he is honest 

and upright, his personality will indicate honesty 

and uprightness and will inspire confidence. If 

he likes other people, others will like and trust him. 

Intelligence and good sense are of course elements 

of success in the work of a salesman as in everything 

else. 

College men are going into salesmanship with 

marked success. The wide and intimate knowledge College men 
r • 1 . n T 1 1 •!• as salesmen, 

of men, gamed m college, and the ability to meet 



136 WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 

strangers and to make friends are decidedly valu- 
able. Poise, self-confidence, and distinction of 
manner are not the only advantages gained in 
college; education gives a many-sided interest 
and knowledge of things, and opens many avenues 
of approach in meeting customers and varied topics 
of conversation in winning them. 

Scientific Farming 

The sciences afford an excellent preparation for 

Who should agriculture. Botany, zoology (including entomol- 

farmingasa ogy), physical geography, chemistry, and physics 

vocation. ^]^ ht^v more or less directly upon the science of 

agriculture. The student who is fond of botany 

and zoology, who loves nature and is happy to find 

himself alone with growing plants and animals, 

will surely enjoy this vocation and succeed in it.. 

Education certainly pays as a farmer's investment. 

Value of ^j^ agricultural survey of Tompkins County, New 
education to ^^ , ^ , , ^ ^ , , /\ ^ . ^ 

the farmer. York, shows that farmers who have attended nigh 

school are making more than twice as much money 

returns on their labor as is made by those who 

have merely attended a grade school. It would be 

interesting to compare the financial returns of those 

scientifically trained with the returns of those high 

school men who have had no scientific training. 

Every farm is a laboratory for scientific experiment. 

Problems of soil conditions and the crop best 

adapted to these conditions, of the most suitable 

fertilizers, of the best preparation of the soil, of the 

most economical methods of feeding stock, of the 

choice of what stock to sell and what to keep and 



ture. 



VOCATIONAL STUDIES 137 

breed, of the care of trees and the shipping of 
fruit — all these problems call for intelligence and 
scientific management of a high order. 

I know of a Michigan farmer with a hundred 
and sixty acres whose profits average twenty-five 
thousand dollars a year. His knowledge of fruit, 
soil, and fertilizers is remarkable. Near by are 
other farmers with inferior equipment who drudge 
for a scant living on farms of equal size. 

In many high schools it is possible to take a 

course in agriculture. A young man from the town ^^^ school 

1 1 1 r 11 1 • -1 and umver- 

shouid lollow up this course with a summer vaca- sity courses 

tion at work on a farm, and thus test his adapta- i^_^^^^^^^' 

bility for this sort of work. A college course 

in some school of agriculture pays large returns to 

the practical farmer. Certain lighter branches 

of farming, such as poultry raising, dairying, the 

keeping of bees, and the raising of flowers and 

garden vegetables are as well suited to women as to 

men. 

Domestic Art and Science 

Dressmaking, millinery, and laundry work are 
vocational fields of wide scope, in which a capable 
student can hope easily to pass from employee to 
employer. Tailoring and textile study for men 
should have a place in the same department. 

Cooking offers another wide field; and there is 
no reason why both young men and women, trained 
in our high schools, should not enter the profitable 
field which the skilful preparation and serving of 
foods opens to them in all populous centers. Of 



138 WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 

course service under the direction of others should 
precede independent business careers. Lack of 
capital should not deter the student. A man of 
high position in financial affairs once said to the 
writer, ^'It is ridiculously easy for a young man 
with a good reputation to borrow the capital with 
which to start in any business which he knows and 
knows to be fairly profitable." 

Manual Training 

Manual training opens a wide field to young 
men who show natural aptitude in mechanical lines. 
For the engineering professions a college training is 
required, or is at least highly desirable. 

The Professional Engineers 

The profession of engineering includes many 
special departments : 

(i) The civil engineer, who designs and builds 
stable structures such as bridges, embankments, 
walls, buildings, or attends to the surveying of 
land and railroads, and to the maintenance of 
railways. 

(2) The mechanical engineer, who designs, builds, 
and sells engines and machines. 

(3) The electrical engineer, who designs, builds, 
tests, and operates electrical machinery and elec- 
trical plants. 

(4) The hydraulic engineer, who designs, con- 
structs, and operates water-works for towns and 
cities; canals, reservoirs, and dams for irrigation; 



VOCATIONAL STUDIES 139 

canals and ditches for drainage; and improve- 
ments in rivers and harbors. 

(3) The sanitary engineer, who is employed by 
cities to design and construct sewer systems and 
plants for the purification of sewage. 

(6) The municipal engineer, who is charged with 
the designing, constructing and upkeep of streets, 
of municipal water-works, and of sewer systems, 
getting advice from the sanitary and hydraulic 
engineers. 

(7) The mining engineer. 

All the technical knowledge a man can get in a 

four, five, or six years' course after high school is Require- 

1 f. . . . ,^ , , ments of a 

required for success m engmeermg. Yet the char- good engi- 

acter requirement is after all the most fundamental. '^^^'■• 

Without this a man must fail in engineering as in 

all other professions. Here are the specifications for 

a good engineer, found in Chief Engineer Sterling's 

Report to the Mississippi Levee Commissioners: 

''A good engineer must be of inflexible integrity, 

sober, truthful, accurate, resolute, discreet, of cool 

and sound judgment, must have command of his 

temper, must have courage to resist and repel 

attempts at intimidation, a firmness that is proof 

against solicitation, flattery, or improper bias of any 

kind, must take an interest in his work, must be 

energetic, quick to decide, prompt to act, must be 

fair and impartial as a judge on the bench, must 

have experience in his work and dealing with men, 

which implies some maturity of years, must have 

business habits and knowledge of accounts."^ 

^ McCuUough, Engineering as a Vocation. 



I40 WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 

The position of stationary engineer is one calling 
for a responsible man with comparatively little 
expert knowledge and skill. The work is quite 
easily learned and the stationary engineer is usually 
paid twice as much as the average clerk. 



Engineering and Building Trades 

The engineering trades include those of ma- 
chinists, mill-wrights, draftsmen, blacksmiths, foun- 
dry workers, and pattern-makers. These are all 
skilled laborers who have usually served appren- 
ticeship and are paid from three to five dollars a day. 

The building trades include those of the carpenter, 
mason, plasterer, plumber, electrician, structural 
ironworker, steam-fitter, gas-fitter, lather, mill-man, 
sheet-metal worker, cabinet-maker, glazier, cement 
worker, painter, and decorator. 

In the engineering trades there is possibility of 

How men in rising to fortune by a successful invention, protected 
these trades , , . , , r i 

sometimes by patent; or by passmg from the ranks of employee 

rise to great ^-q employer, often through the positions of foreman 
fortune. , . , ^, , . , 

and supermtendent. The general supermtendent 

of a great plant is usually a very highly paid man; 
and he may be given a share in the profits. In 
the building trades there is always the possi- 
bility of promotion to foreman or superintendent; 
and from these managerial positions men of initia- 
tive meet with little difficulty in going into business 
for themselves as building contractors. 

In addition to those already enumerated, there 
are several other lines which a young man of me- 



VOCATIONAL STUDIES 141 

chanical tastes may pursue — such as general con- 
tracting, excavating, road-making, and lumbering. 

In these and all other occupations which a youth Questions to 

. . , . , ask before 

considers entermg, there are certam questions which choosing a 

ought to be answered before choice is made: trade. 

1. What qualities are necessary for success? 

2. Have I these qualities? 

3. What education or special training should I 
have? 

4. What opportunities does the occupation afford 
to serve others or to benefit society? 

5. What opportunities are there for advance- 
ment to more responsible and more highly paid 
work? 

6. Am I building the character that can be en- 
trusted with this responsibility? 

7. What is the extent of the field of employment? 
What demand for the goods or services? 

Are there many idle men in the given occu- 
pation? 

Are there civil service as well as competitive 
openings? 

8. What is the healthfulness of the employment? 
Is there danger of occupational disease? 
Have I the strength and health for this work? 

9. What location is most desirable? 

Am I willing to live in the necessary location? 
10. What trade-union regulations must be met? 



XI. The Older Professions 

The Physician 

The sciences, particularly physiology and zoology, 

How to gjyg a^j^ excellent approach to the study and practice 

whether of medicine. A good high school course in these 

you have a branches should make it possible for a student to 
taste for the „ ^ , \ - ^^^ ^ i 

medical discover whether or not he is likely to become 

profession, interested in this profession. If these subjects do 

not appeal to him, probably medicine and surgery 

will not appeal to him. 

Some tim.e ago I sent a number of question blanks 

Whatphysi- iq physicians in order to get information concern- 
cians say of . , , . . _ , . ^ . , , 

their profes- mg their profession. For the benefit of those who 

sion. j^ay \^Q considering medicine as a vocation I print 

one of these blanks with answers, filled in by two 

physicians. Their answers are numbered i and 2 

respectively in reply to each question. Number 

I is a successful family physician in a town of 6,000 

inhabitants. Number 2 is an eminent physician 

and surgeon with a national reputation. 

I. Is the profession of medicine overcrowded? 

1. Statistics show that 5,000 physicians graduate annually 
in the U. S. where 2,000 are required. 

2. No. 

Is it likely to be in the near future? 

1. Yes.i 

2. Not likely to be in the upper stories for many years. 

1 Others say that higher educational requirements are 
reducing the number of physicians, and assuring a better 
future for the profession. 



THE OLDER PROFESSIONS 143 

2. Are there too many specialists? 

1. In general, yes; of good ones, no. 

2. Yes. In leaving college they should first have a general 
training. 

3. What qualities are preeminent in those phy- 
sicians who meet the greatest success? 

1. Intellectual ability. A pleasant, wholesome personality. 
Self-confidence, energy, a studious nature, and, above all, 
good sense and a sympathetic nature. 

2. Inexhaustible energy, indefatigable zeal, sterling integ- 
rity and fidelity to purpose. 

4. What is the cause of failure? 

1. Deficient intellect, lack of preparation, and lack of study 
cause failure in a strict professional sense. Ignorance, 
and a displeasing personality which does not convey 
confidence, cause practical failure. 

2. Indolence; incapacity for grasping such a broad and deep 
subject; generosity in the waste of time, and procrasti- 
nation. 

5. What do you estimate the average family 
physician's income to be? 

1. $700.00. 

2. About $1,500.00 per year. 

6. Is the income of the specialist usually better? 

1. As a rule, yes. 

2. Yes. 

7. What is the largest income you know of in 
either medicine or surgery? 

1, In Chicago and other large cities about $100,000.00; 
there are some larger. 

2. $13,000.00 a month. ($156,000.00 a year.) 

8. How long does it ordinarily take a physician 
to establish a practice? 



144 WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 

1. This cannot be answered. Some win success immedi- 
ately; others never; all depends on location, competi- 
tion, and individual ability. 

2. Seven years. 

9. Does a more paying practice usually follow 
greater experience or is a limit reached after a few 
years? 

1. Should increase up to 60 or 65 years of age, in fact as 
long as a man keeps pace with the advance of medical 
science. 

2. Greater experience, with continued study and appHca- 
tion. 

10. Is a college course before the professional 
school financially profitable? 

1. Absolutely essential; entrance requirements to aU well 
recognized medical colleges practically demand it. 

2. Yes and No. First, a man who is taught to think profits 
by a college education. Second, a mere bookworm is 
injured by a college education. 

11. How many years of professional training 
should a physician have? 

1. Five years in medical college, and if possible three in a 
hospital. 

2. A four-year course in college and two years in hospital. 

12. What location offers the best field, country, 
city, or small town? 

I. All depends on the individual, whether he is by nature 
and cultivation suited (from a social standard) to Hve 
and work among the more polished classes or whether 
his nature and talents adapt him better to more rugged 
work among rural classes. In general the medical pro- 
fession like all others is overcrowded with, men who are 
practical failures. There is always room for the progres- 
sive man of energy and abihty. I believe the medical 
profession offers good opportunity to the latter class. 



THE OLDER PROFESSIONS 145 

2. That depends on the man very much, but good qualifica- 
tions win in every field. In the cities the average is 
generally estimated at from $1000 to $1200. 



The Dentist 

Dentistry is a profession related to medicine and 
surgery. To interest in physiology the student The dentist, 
should combine some mechanical skill. Below is 
given a typical answer received from an inquiry 
sent to dentists. Evidently this useful profession 
is in no danger of immediate overcrowding. 

1. Is the profession of dentistry overcrowded? 
No. 

Is it likely to be in the near future? 
I think not. The demand for dentistry is increasing with 
education as to the evil effects of bad teeth. The supply of 
dentists is diminishing with higher standards as to educational 
requirements. 

2. What qualities are preeminent in those dentists 
who meet with the greatest success? 

Good character; pleasing, attractive personahty; ability to 
meet and deal \\dth people; conscientious effort to do one's 
best. 

3. What is the cause of failure? 

Poor work largely. Neghgence, lack of skill, lack of effort, 
poor personality. 

4. What do you estimate the average dentist's 
income to be? 

$1500 to $2000. 

5. What is the largest income you know of? 
$20,000 in large cities. 



146 WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 

6. How long does it ordinarily take a dentist to 
establish a practice? 

One to three years. 

7. Does a more paying practice usually follow 
greater experience or is a limit reached after a few 
years? 

Usually increases. 

8. Is a college course before the professional 
school financially profitable? 

Yes. 

9. How many years of professional training 
should a dentist have? 

Three. 

10. What location offers the best field, country, 
city, or small town? 

The best field in which to begin practice is probably a place 
of about 10,000 inhabitants; the large city affords opportunity 
for the best talents to secure fees proportioned to ability. 

11. Remarks.^ In the cities specialists doing 
only one branch of dentistry are found. 

The Pharmacist 

Chemistry in the high school offers an excellent 
The phar- "tryout" for the would-be pharnlacist. Many high 
school students who expect to enter this occupa- 
tion manage to find work in drug stores on Saturdays 
and during vacations and even after school hours 
when school is in session. Below is a typical reply 
to questions asked concerning this occupation. 

I. Is the profession of pharmacy overcrowded? 

Not with efficient men. 



THE OLDER PROFESSIONS 147 

Is it likely to be in the near future? 

No. As educational requirements are raised the oppor- 
tunity will be greater. 

2. What qualities are preeminent in those phar- 
macists who meet with the greatest success? 

Thoroughly qualified either by experience or a course in a 
reliable College of Pharmacy. Must have knowledge of busi- 
ness and ability to handle people. 

3. What is the cause of failure? 

Lack of the above, and causes that would apply in all busi- 
nesses and professions. 

4. What do you estimate the average pharmacist's 
income to be? 

$18 to $35 per week. 

5. What is the largest income of which you know 
in pharmacy? 

$20,000 per year. 

6. Should the young pharmacist look forward to 
becoming proprietor of a drug store? 

I should advise a young man never to enter pharmacy, 
unless his aim is some day to have a store of his own. 

7. Are there too many drug stores? 
No; except, perhaps, in certain locahties. 

8. What location offers the best field for a drug- 
gist to-day? City or country town? 

Medium size country towns without too much competition 
and new sections of large cities are usually the best places for a 
young man to start. 



148 WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 

The Lawyer 
History, Latin, and English are the important 

The law as subjects which may be said to give pre-vocational 
a profession. . . "^ • T i 

trammg to the lawyer; yet mdeed every subject 

is useful to him, including mathematics, the sci- 
ences, and even commercial branches and manual 
training. Law cases involve subject-matter of the 
greatest variety; and the lawyer can scarcely cover 
too wide a course in his preparation. Some of the 
most successful lawyers never appear in court and 
are seldom called on to speak in public; yet the good 
public speaker will have an opportunity to become 
known, and popularity is of great advantage in 
building up a practice. Below are given two replies 
to questions sent to lawyers. The two lawyers 
answering are numbered i and 2, respectively, after 
each question. 

I. Is the profession of law overcrowded? 

1. Yes (with those naturally unfitted, or untrained, or 
unequipped) . 

2. Not with men of even fair ability. 

Is it likely to be overcrowded in the near 
future? 

1. Yes. 

2. Not with men of even fair ability. 

2. Are there many men with legal training who 
do not practice law? 

1. Yes. 

2. No. 

If so, why? 

1. Other vocations offer larger emoluments, present com- 
petence, health. 

2. (No answer). 



THE OLDER PROFESSIONS 149 

3. Is the study of law a good preparation for 
business life? 

1. Yes.i 

2. No. 

4. What qualities are preeminent in those who 
meet with the greatest success? 

1. Natural gifts, perseverance, force, integrity, industry, 
courage, accuracy, exactness, precision, sound judgment. 

2. Organizing and executive power, coupled with social 
presence and success for the adviser of business interests. 
Analytical powers, and a fine voice and presence in the handling 
of litigated problems in the courts. 

5. What is the cause of failure? 

1. Natural unfitness, lack of training, sloth, unreliability, 
negligence. 

2. Lack of the above (See Ans. 2 to Q. 4, above) together 
with lack of manners and address of a gentlemen, lack of cour- 
age, and shiftlessness. 

6. Should a man apply himself to a specialty in 
the law? 

1. Yes. 

2. He should choose between being an adviser to business 
interests and handhng litigation in the courts. 

7. What are these specialties? 

1. Commercial, corporation, patent, equity, trusts, probate, 
real estate, consulting, trial of cases. 

2. See under 4 above. 

8. Does each call for special talents? If so, 
explain. 

1. Yes. As in any business or profession in life, special or 
natural adaptabihty or "talent" promises best. 

2. Yes. I have already explained under 4. 

^ The answers to this question are generally in the negative. 



I50 WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 

9. What do you estimate the average lawyer's 
income to be? 

1. Wide range, $3000 to $10,000.^ 

2. $3000 per year.i 

10. What can an average graduate of college and 
law school expect to earn at the law the first year, 
working for himself or for others? 

1. $500 to $1500. 

2. $500 to $1000. 

What the tenth year? ^ 

1. $3000 to $6000. 

2. $3000 to $6000. 

1 These estimates are higher than usually made. Many 
regard $1500 as a fair average. 

2 "In the Harvard Law Review for January there is an article 
addressed especially to young lawyers, but full of interest and 
suggestion for many other classes of readers. It is called 
' Suggestions from Law School Graduates as to where and how 
to begin Practice.' It is written by Richard Ames, secretary 
of the Harvard Law School, and is based directly upon the 817 
answers received from a questionnaire issued to the 1692 men 
who graduated from the School in the ten years preceding 1912. 
The more important questions were these : i . ' What (as nearly 
as you can estimate it) have been your net earnings from law 
each year since graduation?' 2. 'Have you any suggestions 
to offer to students about to graduate that might be helpful to 
them in deciding where to locate and under what conditions 
to begin practice? ' 

"The table of average earnings made up from the answers 
to the first of these questions contains many interesting points. 
In general the average was $664 for the first year, $5,325 for 
the tenth. In New England the first year's earnings averaged 
$524, in Boston, $495; outside New England, $753, in New 
York, $720; east of the Mississippi, $664, west of the Missis- 
sippi, $808; in cities over 100,000, $643; in cities under 



THE OLDER PROFESSIONS 151 

What the twentieth year? 

1. $5000 to $12,000. No satisfactory averages can be given. 
Exceptions numerous. Ranges very wide. 

2. $10,000. 

11. Does a more paying practice usually follow 
greater experience or is a limit reached after a few 
years? 

1. Yes, in the absence of questions of health, panics, local 
changes, other reasons. 

2. (No answer). 

12. Is a college course before the professional 
school financially profitable? 

1. Yes, it should be; but there are many exceptions. 

2. It certainly is. 

13. What location offers the best field, town or 
great city? 

1. City, for remuneration. Town, for relative position 
in the community. Small cities or county seats, for com- 
fortable remuneration and political preferment. 

2. The largest center of population; provided always you 
enter by the proper door, and do not bUndly plunge yourself 
into it. 

100,000, $783. In the eighth year out — the last for which 
the averages are given by localities — the men in New England 
report $3,902, in Boston, $4,266; outside New England, 
$4,765; in New York, $4,210; east of the Mississippi, $4,540; 
west of the Mississippi, $4,010; in cities over 100,000, $4,551; 
in cities under 100,000, $3,550." — Harvard Alunmi Bulletin, 

Feb. II, IQ14. 



XII. What is Efficiency? 

How shall we account for the great difference 
between the income of the average medical prac- 
titioner with perhaps $1200 a year and that of the 
distinguished physician with $150,000 a year, — 
between the average lawyer's income of perhaps 
$1500 and the great lawyer's of $100,000? These 
differences in earnings represent very largely the 
differences in ability and character. In general, 
given equal desire for wealth, income measures 
efficiency, i.e. mental and social power. 

Evolution or the upward progress of man has 
come about by the development of power chiefly 
in two directions: (i) Brain-power, or the power to 
think effectively and to work with active mind; 
(2) Social power, or the power so to regulate one's 
actions, character, and, habits as to live and work 
harmoniously with other people. Brain power and 
social power are indicated by certain good qualities 
of mind and character. 

Qualities that have made the race of men superior 
to all other forms of animal life will also insure the 
success of the individual among other men, when- 
ever the individual is preeminently the possessor 
of these good qualities. The winning qualities and 
their opposites are listed on the following pages. 



EFFICIENCY 153 

Mental Power 

I. Mental Power is revealed in traits of judgment; 
as when a person is 

1. Reasonable, not unreason- 5. Practical, not impractical. 

able. 

2. Teachable, not obdurate. 6. Well-balanced, not unbal- 

anced. 

3. Deliberate, not hasty. 7. Shrewd, not easily imposed 

on. 

4. Sensible, not foolish, 8. Foresighted, not without 

foresight. 

II. Mental power is revealed in attitude of mind; 
as when a person is 

1. /1/er/, not dull or absent- 5. Earnest, not indifferent. 

minded. 

2. Attentive, not inattentive. 6. Active, not passive. 

3. ^//z;e a;«/ wide-awake, not 7. Quick, not slow. 

apathetic. 

4. Serene, not nervous. 8. Interested, not without in- 

terest. 

III. Mental power is revealed in methods of work; 
as when a person is 

1. Prompt, not dilatory. 7. Thorough, not slipshod. 

2. Reliable, not unreliable. 8. Industrious, not idle. 

3. Careful, not careless. 9. Hardworking, not lazy. 

4. Painstaking, not reckless. 10. Pem^/ew/, not changeable. 

5. Steady, not intermittent. 11. OrJer/y, not disorderly. 

6. Systematic, not unsyste- 12. Saving, not wasteful. 

matic. 

IV. Mental power is revealed in /ra//.? 0/ coz^r- 
age; as when one is 

1. Self-possessed, not self-con- 3. Confident, not distrustful 

scious. of self. 

2. Self-reliant, not timid. 4. Courageous, not fearful. 



154 



WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 



Social Power 

I. Social power is revealed in social traits; as 
when one is 

1. Unselfish, not selfish. 

2. Sociable, not unsociable, 

3. Talkative, not taciturn. 

4. Well-spoken, not gossipy. 

5. Generous, not avaricious. 

6. Benevolent, not close-fisted. 

7. Cheery, not sour. 

8. Optimistic, not pessimistic. 

9. Contented, not envious. 
10. ^z«'e/, not noisy. 

II. Social power is revealed in attitude toward 
truth; as when a person is 

1. Ho)iest, not dishonest. 

2. Truthful, not untruthful. 

3. Cmidid and frank, not de- 



11. Gentle, not stern. 

12. Democratic, not snobbish. 

13. Cooperative, not comba- 

tive. 

14. ^/eaJ/a^/, not treacherous. 

15. Trustful, not suspicious. 
;6. Noble-hearted, not jealous. 

17. Reverent, not irreverent. 

18. Honorable, not dishonor- 

able. 

19. High-minded, not base. 



ceitful. 

Conscientious, 
scientious. 



Square, not unfair. 
//^^Z, not unjust. 
Trustworthy, not untrust- 
worthy. 



not uncon- 



III. Social power is revealed in qualities of heart; 
as when a person is 



Modest, not vain. 

Kindly, not cruel. 

Hearty, not cold. 

Cordial, not indifferent. 

Respectful, not disrespect- 
ful. 



6. Thoughtful of others, not 

boorish. 

7. Courteous, not discour- 

teous. 

8. Sympathetic, not unsym- 

pathetic. 

9. Affectionate, not unaffec- 

tionate. 
[Q. Loving, not antagonistic. 



EFFICIENCY . 155 

The Positive Qualities named above are in line 
with upward progress; their opposites with de- 
generacy. "Think on these things." Utter such 
desires as these : ^'l want to be honest.'' "I want 
to be alert and attentive.'' "1 want to be unselfish." 

The Positive are godlike qualities, won by follow- 
ing the noblest impulses and by efforts to do right; 
the Negative survive from the low instincts of 
primitive men and animals, and often come without 
willing. The Positive is for the "Success Club;" 
the Negative for "drifters" and the "Down-and- 
Out Club." 

High school and college life is rich in opportunity 
to develop power both for mental work and for 
social life. Where high social qualities predomi- 
nate school spirit runs high. Where high mental 
qualities predominate excellent work results. 

Let us make a further study of the reasons why 

incomes vary to such a wide extent. Economists General 

, . 1-1 wages de- 

use the term wages to designate the reward given by pend on gen- 
society to all kinds of labor; and labor in the Ian- ^^^^ ^^~ 
r . • , 1 . 1, ployment 

guage of economists is used to designate all sorts and on gen- 

of work, mental or physical, including that of pro- ^F^^ ^^" 
fessional men and superintendents as well as that 
of day laborers. Now it is necessary to distinguish 
between leal wages and money wages. The latter 
are measured in dollars and cents only; the former 
are measured by the amount of comfort and 
luxury that can be secured as the reward of labor. 
When prices are high, money wages may be high 
though real wages may be low. 



156 WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 

Real wages are greatest in the most advanced 
communities, where the efficiency of labor is great- 
est. Efficiency depends upon (i) the skill of the 
workers, (2) their physical strength, (3) their health, 
(4) their intelligence, (5) their education, and (6) 
their moral qualities, such as temperance, honesty, 
persistency, courage, and the like. Efficient labor 
is more productive than inefficient; and the larger 
the output or product of the workers, the more can 
be paid as wages. General employment increases 
real wages for the same reason that efficiency in- 
creases it. Both increase the amount of goods in 
the world. What has been said so far applies to 
general wages. 

The wages in a particular kind of labor will de- 
Particular pend upon the supply of laborers and the demand 
pend^on the for them. There are certain kinds of labor that 
law of sup- ca^n be done only by highly efficient workers. The 
mand^ ^' supply of highly efficient workers is strictly limited. 
As a result captains of industry, great professional 
men, great singers, and artists who enjoy a monop- 
oly of talent receive wages vastly in excess of the 
average man's. The supply of moderately efficient 
workers is less limited; these enjoy a moderate 
income. The unskilled and unreliable men, those 
with only physical strength to offer, must in hard 
times compete with the whole body of unemployed; 
and in consequence their income is a precarious one, 
and usually small as well as uncertain. 

The labor unions by limiting artificially the 
How the supply of workers in a given trade secure increased 
teSSined. ^" wages in that trade. If it is difficult to enter any 



EFFICIENCY 157 

occupation because of the amount of preparation 
necessary, or for any other reason, there will be 
a smaller supply of labor, and wages will be high. 
If the work is disagreeable, or held in low social 
esteem, or if it is uncertain as to financial success, 
the competition of workers within it will be less 
keen, and the wages correspondingly higher. It 
should be the concern of every young man to find 
some occupation in which his own superior skill 
will bring him comparative freedom from competi- 
tion and increased earning capacity as a result. 
Men of weak mental and social power cannot hope 
to compete with those endowed by nature and train- 
ing. Given equal physical strength and technical 
skill, the man who can make friends will outstrip 
the man who lacks the social qualities; and the 
man who can think hard will outstrip the man who 
lacks thought power and concentration. 

Initiative 

Initiative is another prime requisite to high 
earning capacity. The great danger in acquiring 
the knowledge and training of our schools is that 
they may fail to develop initiative. 

It may be possible for one to receive an excellent 
education, so far as mere school learning goes, and Why some 
still be quite unfitted to fill any place of importance, faiTiiTclass 
or to do anything large for himself or for others in "^^^^ as 
the world outside. Not all the talk one hears about ^^'''^^''^^• 
the impracticability and incompetence of many who 
have gone through the educational mill is altogether 
without foundation in fact. One can be a fairly 



158 WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 

good success in school and an utter failure out of 
it; on the other hand there have been many who 
were counted failures in college who succeeded 
beyond expectation in active life. Even in the world 
of letters there is a long list of men — including 
Burke, Goldsmith, Shelley, Spencer, and Byron — 
who were more or less unsuccessful so far as class 
work in college was concerned. On the other hand, 
probably every college professor can recall not a 
few persons who did good and faithful work day 
after day in his classes, who were never conspicu- 
ous for great success in later life. It is said that 
men are sometimes found in the back rooms of 
lawyers' offices, preparing briefs at $50 a month, 
who know more law than the heads of the firm. 
The trouble with these persons generally is that 
The Intel- ^}^gy i^^^.]^ personal initiative. In school and college 
drudge. they are intellectual drudges. They have no 

motive power within themselves. They accept 
the tasks that others assign; they have never learned 
to direct their own activities. The slaves of others, 
they never know the joy of working for themselves. 
There were two students in college at one time 
who were roommates, taking the same course. 
One has since risen to an important executive posi- 
tion, the other has never been heard from. Let 
us call them Jones and Jennings. One day Jones 
was committing to memory one of Horace's Odes, 
when Jennings happened to observe what he was 
doing. 

"Why, what are you learning that for? We 
didn't have to commit anything to memory!" 



EFFICIENCY 159 

Another time Jones was taking notes from a cer- 
tain book on economics shortly before the recita- 
tion in that subject. Jennings was frightened; he 
was afraid he had not taken down all of the assign- 
ment in class. 

''Did Clark assign any work in that book?" 

"No." 

"Then what in the name of sense are you taking 
notes from it for?" 

"Can't I do anything unless somebody tells me 
to do it? " was the reply of the young man destined 
to future distinction. 

Jennings was a perfect type of what I should call 
the intellectual drudge. He made good in nearly 
every recitation; but he never read beyond the 
lesson assigned. If no lesson was given out he 
was of course idle. So long as there was a task- 
master he was at his task; but of personal initia- 
tive he had absolutely none. I suspect that the 
reason he never did much of anything after he 
graduated was that he failed to find anyone to 
assign more work for him to do and give him a 
mark for doing it. The reason such geniuses as 
Burke and Spencer sometimes prove mediocre 
students in their classes is that they are so full of 
projects of their own which they are working out 
that they are likely to neglect the classroom work. 

Now it is personal initiative, above all, that is 
the quality demanded for success in the higher 
positions of active life; and this quality the schools 
frequently fail to bring out. There is discipline in 
patient, passive obedience; it is valuable in our 



i6o WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 

industrial systems where purely mechanical work 
is required. The graduate of a primary or gram- 
mar school, who has merely learned to sit still all 
day and do as he is told, makes a better machine 
hand, of course, than the unrestrained savage 
would make. But the higher the grade of labor to 
which he rises, the more the workman is called 
upon to find tasks for himself — to use his own 
motive force. In executive work success always 
depends in greatest measure on personal initiative. 
Of course this initiative may be developed in 
An instance activities outside of books. Sometimes the young 
of initiativ^e^ man is fortunate whose pecuniary circumstances 
are such as to throw him on his own resources dur- 
ing the college course. I have in mind an old 
classmate who made a remarkable success in a finan- 
cial way as a mining engineer. He worked his way 
through college; and his success in later life was 
wholly due to personal initiative. After a course 
in engineering, he began as stenographer for a 
mining expert. While engaged in this work he 
became interested in a mine then in litigation. He 
copied on the typewriter the legal papers concern- 
ing it. He had previously examined the mine, and 
he now got permission to make tests and a report 
after the manner of an expert mining engineer. 
His figures proved of the greatest importance to 
his employer, and he was at once promoted. Later, 
on his own initiative, he discovered and exposed a 
salted mine, one in which gold dust and nuggets had 
been put to deceive buyers. By this initiative he 
protected an English syndicate from fraud. The 



I 



EFFICIENCY i6i 

syndicate sent him at a considerable salary to take 
charge of mines in Australia. There, without orders, 
he set himself the task of examining the properties 
near by, and whenever he found them valuable he 
cabled the syndicate advising immediate purchase. 
In each case his judgment was followed, to the 
great profit of his employers and to his own per- 
sonal advancement. The last time I saw him he 
was on his way from San Francisco to purchase and 
take charge of mining properties in China, with a 
salary of $30,000 a year and a share in the profits. 

What is true of the value of initiative in executive 
work along industrial lines is no less true in pro- 
fessional careers: the author, poet, artist, minister, 
lawyer, and physician must be his own task-master 
in every case. Somehow each must have learned 
to work for himself. 

The intellectual drudge not only fails to develop 
initiative, but he fails also to get from his work the Working 
joy and gladness of ultimate triumph. His work is 
that of the slave rather than that of the free man. 
His heart is not in it. He does not really know what 
he is working for. He has his eye on the pass-mark 
and the diploma, when it should be on the eternal 
beauty and utility of knowledge. All honor to those 
self-made men, the Lincolns and others, who have 
seen the weakness of the unlearned, the strength of 
the wise, and with none to set tasks but their own 
strong wills, have climbed to the heights of true 
culture. 

But how then, some one asks, will you have us 
learn? In school lessons are assigned; the class 



i62 WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 

must keep step. Besides, teachers are valuable 

helpers and few students have the strength of will 

to work alone. Is it not better to go to school? 

In reply to such questions I would answer, Go to 

school by all means. But be a live student, not an 

intellectual drudge. The former has in view the 

ultimate end, the final mastery and use of a subject; 

the latter sees only the daily task. The student who 

is developing power of initiative determines, for 

instance, to master a language. He wants the art 

of reading and conversing in another tongue; and 

Initiative in ^j^g sooner he can get that power the better he likes it. 

learning a _, , . , ^ 

language. The lesson assigned — so many pages of grammar 

and text, so many minutes in recitation — is not 
enough for him. He sets himself to commit pas- 
sages; he reads aloud; he practices on his fellow 
students whenever he gets the chance. He keeps 
up the work in spare hours during vacation. He 
tries to meet and talk with natives. All this re- 
quires initiative, which is the father of executive 
force. 

I knew a young man who wanted all the power 

In learning i]^^i comes from a thorough knowledge of mathe- 

mathema- . ,,„,., ,, • ^ ^ , i u 

tics. matics. Why, said he to me one day, a man 

can become famous by discovering mathematical 

laws. Mathematics is such a valuable study." 

He hunted for original proofs in geometry, sought 

practical problems in which to apply the principles 

of algebra, and I once saw him with a quadrant 

going about to measure the heights of buildings and 

chimneys. 

Another student became so much interested in 



EFFICIENCY 163 

electrical phenomena that he could scarcely take ^^ learning 

/ TT 11 -I 1 . 3- science, 

time to sleep. He wound a large coil and experi- 
mented with the X-ray and wireless when these 
wonders were new to the world. Today he is a 
manufacturer of coils and other electrical supplies. 

Another student was all afire over chemistry. 
He read books on the application of chemistry to 
industry. Of course his college work meant some- 
thing to him, for there was purpose in it. Today 
he is working to apply his knowledge of chemistry 
in the manufacture of dye-stuffs from coal-tar 
products. If he succeeds, there is the possibility 
that he may open factories now closed for want of 
dyes, and enrich his country with a new and inde- 
pendent industry. 

Few if any large measures looking to the better- 
ment of mankind are being developed in autoc- Freedom 

^ 1 . 1 .... , the source 

racies. Great achievements must be initiated and of great 

wrought to accomplishment in an atmosphere of achieve- 
freedom. Consider what free America has done in 
sanitation, medicine, and industry: there are the 
cotton gin, the steamboat, the telephone, the tele- 
graph, the graphophone, the harvester, the aero- 
plane, the rubber industry, the modern steel 
industry, the sewing-machine, machinery for 
making shoes, the typewriter, and the science of 
bridge-building, — all results of American study 
and enterprise, the gifts of a free country. 

It is in the spirit of freedom that school work 

should be done. The school that does not inspire but ^^^, ^^^^. 
J . . ., 1 . , .11 1-, 1 r 1 student is 

drives its pupils to their tasks will likely further no the one with 

strong initiative, certainly no thorough original per- ^ purpose. 



1 64 WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW 

formance. It will turn out time-servers and under- 
lings, not great men and women. But where 
students push forward in their work, self-impelled; 
advised and directed, but not forced; working for 
themselves, not for the teacher; and because they 
want to learn, not because they are compelled by 
the will of another, — there abides hope for the 
advancement of the nation and the race. 
The trouble with the intellectual drudge is this: 
Final word. ^Q^g ago, perhaps in the primary school, he got 
the habit of accepting exterior authority in the 
assignment of tasks, — he went to work for the 
teacher, and he has never set up for himself. This 
book is written with the hope that some students 
who read it will thereby develop initiative, will 
get purposes of their own, will set up in business for 
themselves in the matter of study. If any con- 
siderable number of those who read it are helped 
to get into right relations with their work, the book 
will have fulfilled its mission. 



APPENDIX A 

Some Statistics on the Economic Value of Education 



I. Efect of Scientific Agriculture in Germany 



In thirty years crop production per acre has increased 

Rye 87.2% Barley 60.8% 

Wheat 88.5% Oats 85.8% 

Potatoes 80.8% 

This yield would have increased American crops in 1907 to 

$1,400,000,000 more than they were worth. 

II. Education and Farm Incomes in Tompkins 
County, N. Y. 

Year's Returns on Labor 

Owners with common school education $318.00 

Owners with high school education $662.00 

Owners with college education $847.00 

High school education = 5 % bond for $5000.00 

III. College Education and Incomes of Professional 
Men 

Estimated Average 
Not 
College College 
Graduate Graduate 

Lawyers $500 to $150,000 $1500 $800 

Physicians 500 to 150,000 $1200 $750 

Dentists 500 to 20,000 $2500 $1500 

Teachers 400 to 10,000 $1200 $900 

^ The Past and Future of Education, John H. Gray. 



i66 



APPENDIX 



IV. A Study of Noted Americans from "Who^s Who 
in America'^ 

Without education o 

With common school education 1368 

With high school education 1627 

With college education 7709 

Without education No chance to become noted. 

With common school education One chance in 9000. 

With high school education One chance in 450. 

With college education One chance in 42. 



V. The Money Value of Technical Training 



Capitalized Wage 



Curve of Weekly Wage at Various Ages 



40,000 
35,000 
30,000 
25 000 




























1 43.00J 

41.0()>^^ 






























i.y 


























^ 


/32.OO 


























^ 


-.00 






2.5.00 


20,000 












20.00 


22.00 





.— 


.--; 


22,W) 




'-"" 


""" " 












l,-..oo 


r''r 


»' 




^ 


<-^8.00 

r 1 














10,000 
5,000 






12.00. 


** 

f 




) 1 


















''^^ 


:;#- 


























^00 1 |-^ 



























Age 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 2G 27 28 29 30 31 32 
__^ Wage of University Trainecl Engineer ___ Wage of Shop Trained Men 
.... Wage of School Trained Engineer Wage of Unskilled Men 



^ Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical 
Engineers, Vol. xxv. 



APPENDIX 167 

VI. Money Value of High School Education, as 

Shown by Massachusetts Boys ^ 

Report of State Board of Education 

Average Wages at 
First Year 25 Years. 
Per Week Per Week 

Left School at 14 $4-oo $12.75 

Left School at 18 10.00 31.00 

Total Earnings 

Boy with common school education, 1 2 years' work . . . $5722.50 
Boy with high school education, 8 years' work $7377-5o 

VII. Summary of Civil Service Efuployees in the 

County of Erie for igij ^ 

Number Aver. 

con- Yearly 

sidered Wages 

Unskilled workers 655 $729 

Workers with special training 82 1618 

Technically trained men 306 1948 

VIII. Special Schooling for Skilled Trades Shown 
by Records for 1Q14 of Graduates from William- 
son School of Mechanic Trades ^ 

Average Incomes 

73 in business for themselves $2848.20 

172 salaried executives each 1890.20 

293 in skilled trades 1072.05 

51 teachers in trade schools 1349.09 

^ Journal of Education, Sept. 14, 191 1. 

2 From Weaver's Profitable Vocation for Boys, p. 40. 

3 Ibid., p. 38. 



__ APPENDIX B 

List of Books on Vocations 

Baker, A. M., 11 ow to Succeed as a Stenographer or Typewriter. 

Fowler and Wells. 
Beveridge, A. J.. The Young Man and the World. Appleton. 

1905- 

Bigelow, W. D., Chemical Positions in the Government Service, j 
Science. 1908. 

Bird, T. A., Sales Plans. 1910. 

Blythe, S. G.. Making of a Newspaper Man. Altemus. 191 2. 

Boston Vocational Bureau, The Department Store. 191 2. 

Boston Vocational Bureau, The Banker. 

Boston Vocational Bureau, Law as a Vocation. 

Browne, Edith A., Peeps into Industries. 191 2. 

Burnham, W. P., Three Roads to a Commission in the Army. 
Appleton. 1893. 

Carr, C. E., The Railway Mail Service. McClure. 1909. 

Carrere, J. M., Architecture as a Profession. Cosmopolitan. 
35: 488. 

Carson, H. N., The Romance of Steel. Barnes. 1907. 

Cherrington, P. T., Advertising as a Business Force. Double- 
day. 1913. 

Clark, T. M., Building Superintetidence. Macmillan. 19 13. 
$3-oo. 

Collins, H. J., The Art of Handling Men. Altemus. 1910. 

Corbion, W. A., Principles of Salesmanship. Jacobs. 1907. 

Craig, J. A., Sheep Farming in North America. Macmillan. 

1913- 
Dooley, W. H., Textiles. Heath. 1912. $1.10. 
Duncan, Robt. K., Chemistry of Commerce. Harper. 1907. 

$2.00. 
Eaton, Walter P., The American State To-day. Small. $1.50. 



APPENDIX 169 

Eckles, C. H., Dairy Cattle and Milk Production. Macmillan. 

1911. $1.60, 
Edgar, Wm. C, Story of a Grain of Wheat. Appleton. 1904. 
Esenwein, J. Berg, Writing the Short Story. Hinds and Noble. 

1909. 
Eagan, J. O., Labor and the Railroads. Houghton. 1909. 

$1.00. 
Foltz, E. B. K., Federal Civil Service as a Career. Putnam. 

1909. $1.50. 
Gage, F. W., Modern Press Work. Inland Printer, 1908. 
Gibson, Chas. R., Electricity of To-day. London. 1907. 
Given, J. L., Making of a Newspaper. Holt. 1907. 
Hall, S. R., How to Get a Position and How to Keep it. Funk 

and Wagnalls. 1908. $.50. 
Harrington, Frank, How to Make a Studio Pay. Wilson. 1914. 
Harris, A. M., Letters to a Young Lawyer. West Publishing 

Co., St. Paul. 
Hitchcock, Fred H., The Building of a Book. Hitchcock. 

1906. $2.00. 
Hoyt, A. S., The Preacher. McClurg. 1911. $1.75. 
Hnngeriord, The Modern Railroad. Macmillan. 1909. $1.50. 
Husband, Joseph, A Year in a Coal Mine. Houghton. 191 1. 

$1.10. 
Johnson, C. N., Success in Dental Practice. Lippincott. 1913. 
Lagnac, Albert, Musical Education. Appleton. 
Low, W. H., A Painter's Progress. Scribner. 
Marden, O. S., Choosing a Career. Bobbs-Merrill. 1905. 
Mathew, J. McC., How to Succeed in the Practice of Medicine. 

Saunders. 1905. 
Monroe, ]. 'P., New Demand of Education. Doubleday. 1912. 
Nelson, S. A., How to Get Admission to West Point. 1898. 
Palmer, G. H,, The Ideal Teacher. Houghton. 1910. 
Powell, E. P., Orchard and Fruit Gardens. Doubleday. 1908. 

$1.10. 
Reid, Wm. A., The Young Man's Chances in Central aftd South 

America. Washington. 1914. 
Shaw, Albert, The Outlook for the Average Man. Macmillan. 

1907. 



/ 



w 



APPENDIX ^^^% 

Small, Sydney, How to Become a Successful Motorman. Drake. 

1908. ' ip-r - ^ 

Smith.,]. Russell, The Ocean Carrier. Putnam. 1908. $1.50. 
Stearns, G. F., Medicine as a Profession. Cosmopolitan. 

Apr., 1913. 
Stevens, Chas. McC, Complete Civil Service Manual. Hinds. 

1902. 
Stockwell, H. G., Essential Elejnents of a Business Character. 

Revell. 191 1. $.60. 
U. S. Civil Service Commission, Manual of Examinations. 

Free. 
Weaver, E. W., Profitable Vocations for Boys. Barnes. 
Weaver, E. W., Profitable Vocations for Girls. Barnes. 1915. 
Whittingham, H., That Farm. Doubleday. 1914. $1.20. 
Williams, A., Wonders of Mechanical Ingenuity. Lippincott. 

1910. 



